The Lives and Lies of Fielding Creek
by Madam RedRose25
Summary: The idea sounded perfect, almost too good to be true. A chance to grow and show others your capabilities and skills. A town for kids, run entirely by kids. The last one standing gets rewarded. But corrupted minds soon take over. Kyle wants to get the truth out. Stan just wants to survive. Cartman will do anything to win. And the adults are split on what to do either way.
1. In the Begining

_**THE LIVES AND LIES OF FIELDING CREEK**_

_A/N:____This story takes place in its own alternate universe, kind of like my stories Stan's Phobia or How the Darkness Sounds. It's not meant to be read as other stories that exist in my personal South Park timeline. Hope you enjoy._

IN THE BEGINNING

_Kyle's POV_

_August 28__th__, 2018_

The only thought that kept coming into my mind that day was _how the hell did I wind up here_? Of course I knew the specifics but the overall reasons for it made me shake my head in disbelief. All I wanted to do was to save my best friend and now… now I was in the same sticky situation he was in. To make matters worse I had no idea where Stan even was. The idea seemed flawless enough days ago. Fake an illness so They would have no choice but to take me to The Center. This was where Stan was, at least, that was what I came to believe. Maybe I shouldn't have talked things over with my other Floor mates. I knew Stan trusted the majority of them but still… the fact remained that he was the one that needed help and I was the only one that could follow through with doing just that. At least that's what I hoped.

I can remember my frustrations already as I woke up that Tuesday morning. Today was my mother's birthday and if things were back to the way they were months ago then perhaps I would have been celebrating with her and the rest of my family. Nothing big, Mom is not one to ask for too much attention on her birthday. But we would have gone out to eat for dinner, somewhere nice that's out of town. A nice dinner was always Mom's idea of a good birthday. Yet here I was, stuck at The Center. Away from my family just like so many other kids. Just how did I land myself in a situation I told myself I never would be in? To best answer that I have to take you to the beginning…

_December 11__th__, 2017_

It was a cold Monday morning and my nine-year-old self was currently walking down the halls with Stan, talking about the homework we had over the weekend.

"I think I did okay, he's not exactly grading us on artistic ability is he?" Stan spoke as he showed me a picture he drew of the landmark, Seven Falls. We had to draw a famous Colorado natural landmark and list ten facts about the landmark over the weekend.

"It looks fine to me. Better than what I did anyway," I said as I showed him my picture of the Arkansas River.

At that moment we looked over to see Fatass running (or jiggling- same thing) over our way.

"You guys! You guuyyssss!"

"What is it?" Stan asked.

Cartman stopped our way, hand on his knee for a few seconds to catch his breath. "You- you guys, it's sooo cool. Did you hear what's happening next year? Oh my god it's going to be totally sweet you guys."

"You're finally going to eat low-fat food?" I joked causing Stan to laugh.

"No fagbutts. And just because of that I'm not telling you anything."

Stan rolled his eyes. "Fine, what is it?"

"No, you'll just have to find out some other way. But once you do find out what's going on you're going to wish you had heard it from _me_ first. Assholes." With that Cartman stuffed his backpack into his locker, slammed it shut, and walked off to Mr. Garrison's classroom.

Stan and I both shrugged at each other before doing the same. We both found out exactly what Cartman was talking about hours later at home from our parents. I couldn't help but notice the odd looks on Mom and Dad's faces as we sat around the dinner table that night.

"Um, is something up?" I finally had to ask.

Mom and Dad shared a look before Mom spoke up. "Well now that you mention it bubbe, a flyer came in the mail today that Dad and I found interesting. We figured you might too."

"A flyer? About what?"

Dad thought as he cut into his salmon. "Hmm, the flyer didn't say too much but it spoke of a new development being built not far from here called Fielding Creek. The area is designed for kids and well, here, you can read it…" he handed over a sheet of bright orange paper with black font throughout.

_HEY KIDS! Ever wish you could have a break from your parents? Ever wish you could do what YOU wanted to do and your parents couldn't tell you no? Then you might be the perfect candidate to take up residence in the brand-new town of Fielding Creek! A town designed with kids in mind. Development begins this December and the town opens in February of 2018, just for YOU! More information to be given at participating schools in town. South Park Elementary: December 13__th__, Jr. High: December 14__th__, and High School: December 15__th__. Residence reserved for children ages 6 months-18 years. See you there!_

_(Special meeting for parents to take place at the Community Center on December 17__th__ at 8 P.M.)_

I frowned, feeling very confused at the flashy flyer. I slowly placed it on the table so we could all look at it.

"I don't understand what this is about. What's the point?"

Dad shrugged as he ate some more. "I guess you will find out more in a couple days. Couldn't hurt to see what they have to say, right?"

I looked back at the flyer then at my parents. "Are you guys planning on going to the parent meeting thing?"

"Of course Kyle," Mom spoke. "I am curious as to what this is just as you are. I bet anything that Sharon and Randy will be going too."

And that was that. We were all on the same page at that moment and we would be getting more information soon. Of course this new development/town thing was the hot topic on everyone's mind at school the next day.

"I dunno, it does sound kind of sweet but at the same time…weird," Stan was saying over lunch.

"You buttholes, this will be totally sweet. A place to get away from our stupid parents for once? Sign me up already," Cartman smiled.

December 13th soon arrived and at 10 o'clock that morning all us students were taken into the gym for an assembly to hopefully better understand just what was going on. I noticed a great big screen set up as well as some models of buildings and things set out on a table. After all us kids took a seat in the bleachers were we greeted by a couple new faces.

"Good morning children of South Park Elementary!" greeted a man with short blond hair. "My name is Nick and I am the head of development in the new town of Fielding Creek."

"And my name is Connie and I am the director of operations at Fielding Creek and today we are going to be going over this exciting new prospect! Who else is excited?"

There was a murmur of response.

Nick clicked a remote in his hand and a large image popped up on his screen of fancy golden gates with the words Fielding Creek over it. "Now I am sure the first question the majority of you youngsters have on your mind is: What exactly is Fielding Creek? Connie?" he smiled at his partner.

Connie faced us all with hands clasped in excitement. "When I think of Fielding Creek I think of opportunity. Opportunity for each one of you to be the very best person you can be. An opportunity to show everyone out there, whether it be your parents, friends, or peers just how smart and strong you are. To learn skills that you might not have gotten yet. To be able to go in with a certain idea of yourself but to come out much happier and able-minded than you were when you arrived. For you see, Fielding Creek is a special town developed with children in mind."

Stan and I shared a curious look as we listened to this lady speak.

"There's some weird catch, just wait," he whispered to me.

Nick began showing us more of his PowerPoint. "Here at Fielding Creek we have developed everything you kids will need to live a happy and healthy life. There are schools, clinics, a post office, grocery store, everything that exists already in this town now. Not to mention the huge houses that are being built where you will share with your fellow peers and friends during your time here. It will almost be like one big sleepover!" he clicked the next image to show images of what appeared to be one of these houses. "Each house will be three to four stories tall, have a massive kitchen, living area, bedrooms, and recreation room for everyone. It truly will be a fun place for you to spend time with your peers. Yes?"

At that moment the hand of a third-grader went up. "How many houses will there be?"

Nick and Connie shared a look before the man answered. "As of right now there will be ten houses. The actual room arrangements are explained in better detail in this pamphlet here which each one of you will take back home with you today." He held up a beige book the size of a comic book.

To my surprise Stan was the one that held up his hand next.

"Yes little boy?" Connie acknowledged him.

"I still don't understand this. Why would we want to do this? Live here? What's in it for us?"

Connie smiled brightly now. "I am so glad you asked that dear. That is the next topic I want to bring up. You see, Fielding Creek will be a town specifically developed for children ages one through eighteen. It's a town for kids run _entirely_ by kids."

The gym buzzed around with excitement now and it took a couple minutes before Mr. Mackey could quiet us all down again.

"Yes, you heard me right. This town is a special opportunity to see just how well you will be able to run a town by yourselves without adult intervention. You will go to school, have job opportunities, get paid for those jobs… it's a chance to live life and do things your way without your parents to tell you otherwise."

"Wow, awesome," I smiled as I looked at Stan, the same look on his face.

I saw Wendy raise her hand next. "How long will we live there? Will we be able to go home if we wanted?"

Connie and Nick shared an odd look yet again. Connie placed a strand of her reddish hair behind her ear. "To tell you the truth this town will be treated like one big experiment. If you do decide that you want to take part in the Fielding Creek experience then you are agreeing that you will live there, away from home, for a duration of at least three months. And will be unable to go home until then. Only if the situation is dire enough or you get home sick you can return home. But you will be unable to partake in the experiment if you choose to leave."

"Quiet down now! Quiet down now, mmkay?" Mr. Mackey was tapping on a microphone as everyone in the gym began talking at once again.

Stan raised his hand again but Connie made a motion for him to lower it. "As for your question earlier about what is in it for you I have to say this: whoever is able to outlast his or her fellow peers and friends the longest and to the best ability at the end of the three months will win a prize."

Cartman's eyes lit up now. "Prize did she say?"

"Now I don't want to disclose what that prize is yet but I will tell you that it will be great. Something you will enjoy. Something your parents will enjoy as well. Something that truly will make you feel very good about yourself if you do win it in the end."

Cartman's hand shot up now and he spoke before Connie could acknowledge him. "Will the prize include money?"

Connie chuckled. "I'm not going to tell you what it is, that is for the special winner to find out in the end. Perhaps you will be that lucky child."

Cartman rubbed his hands together. I could already hear the dark thoughts he was scheming up in his mind. The assembly went on for another thirty minutes. After, all us kids were encouraged to take one of the beige booklets with us on our way out. Of course we all had our noses in them after school let out as we rode the bus home.

"Well? Do you think it's legit?" I asked around.

"Must be, there sure is a lot of stuff they put in here," Stan said as he thumbed through the booklet.

"It sounds almost too cool to be true," I frowned. "A chance to live somewhere without adult supervision for three months and we have a chance to win a big prize if we succeed?"

Butters was now looking through the booklet quickly. "Did you fellas see anything about when we can sign up by?"

Stan opened to the front page. "Says right here the last day we can enter is by December 30th. After that…. looks as if the initial process to get everyone settled in and such begins," he frowned as he read that page.

I looked over to my friends after glancing outside the frosty window of the bus. "So? Are you guys for sure going to enter?"

"Well duh," Cartman rolled his eyes.

Butters rubbed his hands together in a defeated way. "I mean I'm sure my parents are going to want me to go. I doubt I'd win but I know they'd want me to enter. A chance to- to better myself. Maybe I'll stop being such a little screw up if I go…"

"I am, that prize has me excited. It could be anything," Kenny mumbled.

Stan shrugged. "As long as nothing too crazy happens and there isn't some sort of catch. It could be pretty fun. I do wonder what the living arrangements will be. I mean if I'm forced to live with Shelley still then no way in hell am I signing up."

I rubbed my chin as I flipped towards the back under a section labeled: _Home Life_. "I doubt you will be dude. There isn't too much detail but it says here boys and girls will be living in separate housing and we'll also be separated by age. Damn, I wonder what they mean by that? I'd hate it if I can't spend much time with Ike…"

Stan was giving the pamphlet a hard look now. "I just really hope this isn't some sort of cult. I told myself already I learned my lesson after trying out fucking Scientology. Listen to this, on page three: 'Fielding Creek is a town designed to better each child and to allow him or her the chance to take charge of their own life. This means that the physical and mental health of each child is essential to a good outcome by the end of the three months. Upon each entry every child will be given mandatory physical, dental, and mental health evaluations before taking up residence. By month three each child will be reevaluated to see if either A) They made improvements to their own wellbeing, B) Their wellbeing decreased, or C) Stayed the same.' This will help in the overall process of choosing a winner. I dunno, that right there sounds kind of strange…"

Cartman was scoffing at this already as he leaned over the bus seat to Stan and I. "As usual something fucking amazing is taking place in town and the Jew and the Douche has to have a problem with it. Were you fucking asleep at the assembly? We get to run a town by ourselves. We get to get paid for jobs and shit. We get to do shit _our_ way. Where the fuck do you see a problem with that?" he demanded.

I read this part in the book too. "Stan does have a point. Mandatory evaluations on everyone before and after this thing? That's hundreds of kids' information they could use for whatever reason."

"Guys, this thing is sweet. There's nothing else to it. Or are you all too chicken to be away from home for three months? Huh? Bawk-bawk-bawk!" Cartman squawked, flapping his arms like a chicken.

I slapped his arm to stop. "Shut the hell up fatass. I'm not chicken."

Stan was still looking at the booklet. "Same, I just want to make sure we aren't signing up for some weird cult thing or being sacrificed to some demons or whatever."

By December 17th everyone's decision about Fielding Creek was decided. All the parents went to the parent meeting at the Community Center and when our parents came back home to the Marsh house that night (Shelley was left in charge of us kids) they all had smiles on their faces.

"Well Eric, do you still want to take up residence at this new town?" Ms. Cartman asked her son when everyone stepped inside.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Cartman cheered, spilling the Coke he was drinking onto the carpet.

"How about you Stanley? And Shelley? Is this something you'd like to take part in?" Mrs. Marsh asked her kids.

"I dunno. I really don't want to be forced to live in a house with only _her_ as company," Stan thumbed over to his sister.

"Well from what we were told you won't have to worry about that son," Mr. Marsh grinned. "Boys and girls will be living in separate houses."

"Then sign me up already," Shelley groaned. "Anything to get a break from this stupid family."

Mom and Dad turned to Ike and I now. "Boys? Do you want to live in Fielding Creek?" Mom asked.

Ike looked up from the car he was playing with, frowning. He got up and stood next to me. "I want Kyle…"

I had a hand on my brother's shoulder now. "You'll be okay Ike. I'll look after you."

Ike held up his car now to our parents. "I take… red car with me."

Dad placed his hands on his knees as he lowered down to look at him. "Yes, you can take your favorite toys with you Ike. And like Kyle said, he will be there with you the entire time. This will be a great big fun adventure for all of you."

"So you guys were all convinced this will be a good thing? Like, you didn't get any weird vibes from the meeting?" Stan asked, now sitting down with the popcorn us guys had been snacking on before our parents walked in.

Mr. Marsh looked at the other parents before turning to his son. "No, you kids have nothing to fret over."

Stan rubbed his arm. "Then what's with the mandatory health checks?"

Mr. Marsh chuckled now. "Stanley that's nothing. Nothing more to it than what they said in this little guy here"- he held up the beige booklet. "It's just a way to see which one of you kids has the best grip over your own life and wellbeing at the end of the three months. Either you improve yourselves, you stay the same, or you suck at taking care of yourselves and loose. Simple."

Stan sighed but didn't say anything. I knew he had fair points to be skeptical, especially after being a part of Scientology not too long ago. He never was sued by anyone of the 'religion' but he did spend some time after doing a little research on cults and made the promise he would never be a part of a group again if it had cult-like vibes. I know he had reason to worry a little if our personal information from the health checks would later be used against us but I still wanted to be a part of this 'experiment'. Us kids had done a lot of crazy things in our short lives. Stan, Cartman, Kenny, Butters, and I have been through many situations most adults wouldn't dream of and so far we had come out all right. Surely we would all be okay if we helped run a town with other kids. If anything we would be safer, in an environment without much distraction or temptation to leave. It would just be us doing the best that each of us could do to show our parents that they had done a good job so far in raising us. I guess.

I was just worried about my brother Ike. Stan and everyone were old enough to appreciate time away from our parents and knew some skills we could apply to running our own life for a little while. Ike, not so much. All he knew was kindergarten and home. Yes he was smart, the only three-just-turned-four-year-old in kindergarten, but he was still the smallest and youngest kid there. He still needed reminders to clean his bottom after he used the toilet and still couldn't tie his own shoes. I could do all I could to help him but what were the chances he would actually make it the three months away from home?

"Did they tell you anything about the prize?" Butters's voice interrupted my thoughts.

Again, the parents stole odd looks at each other.

"The prize isn't what's important now Butters. The important thing is that you win it. Otherwise you will be grounded when you come back home," Mr. Stotch sternly pointed a finger at his son.

"Oh geez," Butters frowned, rubbing his hands together.

Minutes later everyone began to disperse to go home.

"Goodness, it's already past ten? Stanley, go upstairs and get ready for bed. It's past your bedtime," Mrs. Marsh told her son, pointing up the staircase before she went into the kitchen.

Stan rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. I grinned and gripped his shoulder.

"Just think dude, soon you can set your own bedtime. You can do whatever the hell you want," I reminded him.

Stan smiled slightly back but didn't say anything. He waved me good-bye and went up the stairs. At that moment Dad steered me out so we could go home. By the next day it appeared as if the majority of parents in town had agreed to send their kids to Fielding Creek. I liked to think all the kids going there had a say in it and were the ones that asked their parents if they could go. I didn't want to think there were some parents out there signing their kids up if they didn't want to attend. Of course there were going to be families like that but still... I had a feeling the adults in town knew what was at stake prize-wise so they wanted to make sure they had a shot in claiming said prize. I asked Mom and Dad what it was and what else they were told at the big parent meeting the other night but they didn't tell me anything. They had both been busy filling out forms on Ike and I since that day and had sent them to the mayor's office where a couple spokespeople had set up a little booth to collect every entry form as well as convince others that might still be unsure about this thing.

The information I did gather from the official booklet was that any child that did enter would automatically be allowed in. The booklet went into detail how the more kids living in the town the better. It meant it could function more like a normal town if more people lived there. It meant there would be more jobs available and more chances for everyone to help each other out to run the town. At this point I really wanted to find out what kind of job I would be assigned but I was told that would be one of the last things that would be assigned. Before that each of us kids would fill out forms of our own where we would answer questions about ourselves plus we would be given mini-interviews with other spokespeople of the development so our overall personalities and abilities could be assessed to better place us in a particular job. But those would be a little later. First up on the list was the start of the health checks. According to the schedule in the booklet Health Screenings for children ages 8-11 would be on January 2nd at 9 A.M. and go on long into the day and would take place in the large conference rooms of a business plaza in town.

As I stood in line with what seemed like nearly two hundred other kids close to my age I kept looking around to see if I could spot Stan but couldn't find him in the crowd, but since I looked to be one of the first kids in the line I decided I would wait around after until my friend showed up. I had told him the night before I'd wait up for him if I was seen before he was. I wanted to simply text him but at this point Stan's parents hadn't given him a phone yet. And so I waited behind a kid slightly older than me before it was my turn. A nurse escorted me down where makeshift cubicles were set up in the conference room, each with a privacy screening.

"In here dear," spoke the nurse and pushed me inside one near the end of the row. I stood in what appeared to be a normal looking doctor's office but at the same time it hardly looked like one. There were only two chairs there, a scale, and a little table on wheels. Suddenly the curtain opened and in walked a slightly older man with a small smile. He shook my hand and introduced himself as Dr. Hekert.

"Do you have your form with you son?" Dr. Hekert asked me.

"Oh, right." I handed over a form to him which my parents had filled out that had my information on it such as full name, birth date, and the fact that I was diabetic.

The older man nodded as he took it from me. "Thank-you. Now, this should be very quick young man. I'm just going to check your vitals, weight, and take a tiny blood sample and you'll be free to go. How does that sound?"

I could already hear in my mind what Stan's response to this would be as soon as he met up with me later.

"_See Kyle? It's a way to keep track on us. If they have blood samples of us they have our DNA ready at their disposal."_

But I honestly was feeling okay with the kid town thing still and knew at this stage of the game such information was simply to see if any of us would improve ourselves or not in the end. So I agreed to what this doctor said and he went away with my physical and I was out of the room in less than ten minutes, a few new things filled out on my form from the doctor. I waited around outside and twenty minutes later Cartman turned up. We waited over another hour until we finally saw Stan walk our way near the back of the office building.

"So? What do you guys think so far?" I asked them.

Stan was frowning as he held up his right hand where a Band-Aid was over his ring finger. "See Kyle? I told you- this is all just a way for them to get a hold of our DNA. If they have our blood on hand then they"-

"Dude, Stan, I really don't think that's it. They just need initial information on us before anything. How else will they know if we improve or not?"

Stan huffed. I guess I didn't see it as a big fuss, maybe it's because I am so used to finger pricks and such since I'm diabetic but I wanted to remain hopeful about everything right now.

"What the hell is up with this fucking sheet though?" Cartman shook his medical form in front of his face. "There's weird colored dots and shit on here."

I rolled my eyes. "If you bothered to read dumbass it tells you. Let's see… I have a yellow dot next to my name as well as a green one…"

"I do too," Stan looked at his name.

"I have a red dot. What does that mean?" Cartman asked.

I looked to the back of the paper where it explained each dot. "Yellow dots mean 'child has pre-existing condition upon arrival.' Guess they mean my diabetes and your asthma dude."

"Oh," Stan said.

"Green dots mean 'child is of a healthy BMI upon arrival.' So I'm at a normal height and weight ratio for my age as are you Stan. Red dots mean 'child is either over-weight or obese upon arrival.'"

"Ay! What the hell?" Cartman spat as Stan and I laughed.

"What do you weigh then? Two-hundred pounds?" Stan smiled.

"Shut the hell up hippie!"

I couldn't help myself- I ripped Cartman's sheet out of his hands to look. And laughed some more with Stan.

"Wow dude! According to this, you are in the 98th percentile with a BMI of 24. Let's see… yeah, at 4'3" you being 91 lbs. is considered obese. This means you are fatter than 98 percent of other boys your age!"

"Hey shut the fuck up both of you!" Cartman tore the paper from me now.

Days later on January 8th was the Dental Screenings for children ages 8-11 and took place in the large parking lot of the Community Center. I couldn't help but note how many other dentists from neighboring towns volunteered their time to do this thing today since South Park only has six dental offices around. I stood in line behind some kids that cold morning. To the left and right of me were two equally long lines, all three lines waiting in front of three mobile Dental Vans called Smile Express! There were also some men standing guard near them. I poked my head out, once again searching for Stan. I guess you can't help but do shit like that when you're best friends with someone. You always have to know what the other person is doing and what they're thinking. I then noticed the back of a familiar red and blue poofball hat, about ten or so kids in front of me.

"Psst! Stan! Hey, Stan!" I hissed his way.

The head turned around and Stan looked back. I couldn't help but smile his way. "Meet you in the back after, okay?" I mouthed even if he probably couldn't hear me. But since we are best friends he understood what I was saying and nodded before looking towards the front again.

At that moment a man dressed in a dark blue suit pulled out a megaphone to hush all of us kids. "Attention! Attention now!" he called, a hard look upon his face. "I have some important words that I need to announce before we begin today. Each van here is situated with two chairs each; one dentist per chair which means you will be going in two at a time. If the dentist that examines you finds nothing of concern you will exit the van to your right and you are free to enjoy the rest of your day. However if something is found to be of concern you will be given a dark green stamp on your forms you have in your hands there and exit to your left where you will be sent to the Community Center. There you will wait to have said problem fixed before you can continue on with your day. Understood?"

I couldn't help but notice the men standing guard in front of each van. As if they were ordered to shoot any kid that might try given them trouble although I didn't see any guns. Even though he was in front of me I still felt the apprehension off of Stan. If last week didn't make him feel like a person on display to be forced into something so personal today certainly would. And so I waited and waited. Indeed there were a couple scuffles as that first hour went by when two kids tried to sneak off to the right to go home but instead were forced to go to the direction of the Community Center. And since there seemed to be constant movement of kids going in and out of the Smile Express! Vans and of the guards escorting them to the proper line I never noticed when it was Stan's turn. Finally I went into the van after having stood in line for over an hour.

Inside were two normal dental chairs facing the opposite sides of the van with a small sink on either side. One was occupied by some unknown girl so I went to the empty one. A kind-faced man by the name of Dr. Yu greeted me and went to examine my teeth. The process lasted five or so minutes before he asked for my information form. He scribbled something on it and patted my back.

"All looks good Kyle. You're free to go."

"Sweet," I smiled and hopped out the chair so he could get ready for the next kid.

I walked out to the right of the van (thankfully with no problem by the guards) to wait for Stan. I waited behind the Community Center near the dumpster for him but he didn't show up. At least not for another two hours. Thankfully I had my phone to occupy myself with but I still felt annoyed when his presence finally graced mine.

"Finally! Dude, it's nearly four o'clock, where the hell were you?"

Stan was glaring at me as he held out his information form. "I had the smallest of fucking cavities. I had to get it filled just now. But of course the Community Center is packed already with all these other kids that need shit done too. So I had to wait forever to be seen again. Still, it was the _smallest_ cavity," he held up his thumb and first finger together. "It didn't take long to be fixed but c'mon… there was barely anything wrong."

"Sorry dude. But hey, this is all worth it. We're so close to being in charge of our own lives for once," I said gleefully.

Stan sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I hope so. I just want to pack my bags and go already."

It made me happy to know that Stan was finally beginning to get excited about Fielding Creek, and as the days went by his excitement grew. Not long after the initial health checks did an official date come out as to when Fielding Creek would open: February 5th. The final phase of the process would occur on January 15th, personal interviews to asset possible job placements and our overall personality and mental health. Interviews took place for children in the age group of 8-11 once again and at the Community Center. This time the process took place in the private rooms in the center so as to not have outside sources interfere with anything. I was taken into one of the rooms where two individuals representing Fielding Creek greeted me. I forget their names, only that it was a man and woman. After asking for my name and age they went into the actual interview.

"Now Kyle, the first question we have is possibly the most important: do you want to work during your time at Fielding Creek?" asked the man.

"What? What do you mean? I thought jobs were mandatory," I looked at the two.

"Well it is up to a certain age," explained the woman. "However it is optional in your age group. You see, jobs can begin to be handed out at age eight in town and at that point it is indeed your choice if you would like one."

"Oh. Well yeah, I would like one if possible," I said earnestly.

"Great," the man smiled and wrote something down in his folder.

"Now Kyle, what is a job you would like to have when you grow up?" asked the woman.

I frowned in thought, rubbing my chin. "Hmm… well I do like science and math. Maybe some sort of scientist. Or maybe a doctor. My best friend told me before I'd make a good doctor and well, I do take his opinion over anyone else's," I said truthfully.

The two adults in front of my nodded and scribbled away in their notes.

"Do you yourself see a future as a doctor? Why do you think your friend thinks this of you?" asked the woman.

"Well like I said, I'm good at science and stuff. Honestly I'm good at every subject in school. I guess you could say I'm the 'smart kid' in my group," I put up air quotes. "I also really like to help people. Sometimes… well, I might take it too far and I might create a bigger problem if I do something for someone else but it's who I am."

"So you like being with people? Would you consider yourself a people person?" asked the man.

"Yeah, guess so."

"That's good, that's good," nodded the man. "Now Kyle. What are your favorite activities outside of school?"

"I like to play video games, read, play basketball and football."

"Would you consider yourself particularly good at any of those things?"

I couldn't help but sigh. "Not really. I mean, I'm good at reading of course. I can read at an eighth grade level. I'm also really good at video games. But sports-wise I don't have much talent. They're fun but that's about it." I already knew when these people talked to Stan they would be impressed with his abilities at sports which would no doubt push him into a job completely opposite of mine. Once we were done talking about my interests we went into talking about my family. I was surprised for a second as to why they wanted to know but I figured it had to do with the whole 'mental health' image they needed to get of me. I told them I loved my parents and brother and went on for another minute to talk about my relationship with Ike.

"I take my role as older brother pretty seriously," I explained. "I can still remember when I was younger how much I would beg my parents for a sibling. Now that I have one I want to make sure my brother grows up in a good way. Make sure I can be a good influence on him and have him know he can go to me for anything."

The woman smiled as she wrote this down. "So this ties into your sense of wanting to help others, am I right?"

I shrug. "Sure, I guess. I am kind of the emotional support for others, mainly my best friend."

The man frowned as he looked my way. "This 'best friend' you keep bringing up… well, you keep bringing him up. Do you share something special with him or her? How long have you known them?"

"Sorry, can't help it sometimes. Honestly we're just as close as brothers. Been friends since preschool. We hang out all the time, know everything about each other. I- I don't know if that matters or not in the end with this," I waved my hands in the air. "But we kind of have already talked about what would happen if the both of us are tied for first place to claim the prize in the end. What would you guys do about that?"

The man and woman shared a glance before looking at my direction.

"That's very sweet," smiled the woman. "Unfortunately I don't think that is a possibility. But we do take best friends into account with the town. We can see if we can't group you together with your best friend for certain things like your dorm or activities in town."

"What is his name?" asked the man.

"Stan Marsh," I answered.

"Okay. And his age?"

"He's nine like me."

The interview went on for another ten minutes before the man asked me if I had any pending questions. Of course I did.

"You say that those eight and above can get jobs… what about my younger brother then? And other kids his age? How will they be taken care of if they're too young to work?"

"Good question Kyle," nodded the woman and wrote something down. "You see, children under the age of eight will be looked after by the older children of the town. Some of the jobs available to teenage children is to help look after the youngest members. And since they are indeed too young to work that means their needs, such as food and clothing, will be provided by official members of The Center."

"Wait, what's The Center?"

The man and woman glanced at each other before they both chuckled.

"Oh how silly of me! I sometimes forget that the majority of you kids don't know about The Center. Just as well, you'll find out more about that when you move into town. The Center is the main building that runs the town."

"But I thought"-

"Yes, kids will run the town. However there still needs to be a separate…base if you want to call it. That supplies necessities for the town. Security monitors in town get fed to The Center so adults that work there will be aware of any trouble. The Center also provides electricity, water, gas. All those things to help power the town so that no one needs to worry about such things. We thought having children be in charge of their own power supply would be a bit much to handle," explained the woman.

"Say Kyle, you like science, don't you?" asked the man.

"Yeah."

"Well think of The Center as the mitochondria. The main house that controls the rest of the cell body. Trust us, no one older than eighteen will be seen in town. In fact, The Center is located miles away from town," smiled the man.

"Okay then," I shrugged.

With only three days left to go the town of South Park was abuzz with the thought of all us kids heading off to live on our own for a little while. It was a Friday and a school day, although no one was paying attention in Mr. Garrison's class, nor any other class in town. I wish we could say it was because we would soon be away from school for three months but unfortunately school was still a requirement when we were to move to our new town. I wasn't sure how our new schooling would go but was curious nonetheless. No one could do anything but talk of Fielding Creek during recess that day. A big group of us guys sat around the trees to discuss things.

"Everyone all packed up?" I asked around.

"I've been packed for weeks," Cartman boasted.

"Mostly," Stan answered. "My grandparents from California are stopping by later today. In fact, I'm sure their plane just landed," he glanced at his watch. "My grandpa said he has a special present he wants to give me personally before I go."

"Do you guys really think things will be okay? That we're really able to handle livin' on our own?" Butters asked around, slightly worried.

"I think we'll be okay. We've all done some crazy shit in our short lives. We can handle living in a town by ourselves," Token reassured the blond boy.

"Things did get screwed up pretty quickly when we ran a town last time. We were divided and sacrificing other kids and it had only been a week without our parents," Stan noted, talking of the time us kids had our parents taken away by police after accusing them of falsely 'molestering' us. Things went chaotic fast. But there seemed to be more order and structure this time around, I felt good about everything.

"Imagine winning the prize. I hope it's money. Or chicks or some shit," Kenny said as an afterthought.

Tweek was twitching as usual and pulling at his shirt. "Gah! But what if something bad happens to us? What if we get hit by a car or- or get AIDS?"

Stan sighed with an eye roll. "Dude, Tweek, mellow out. I was told that there will be a health office in town. And anything that's serious will be treated at The Center. Actual doctors are standing by there in case there is an emergency in town. We'll be fine."

Honestly, I think Stan and I were both feeling confident at this point. Any questions or concerns were answered either by officials or written in the beige booklet. We were able to live life how we wanted for a little while. We would earn money for jobs and use that money for goods. Just like any normal town. There was adequate housing, school, grocery store, health office, library, swimming pool, park, bookstore, toy store… all the things a kid could want or need. We could speak to our parents either with phone calls or live video. We had internet and constant electricity. I couldn't find any faults in Fielding Creek. Not yet anyway. How quickly things changed. How I wish I could turn back time and warn myself about the town. How I wish I could tell our parents what they had signed us up for. At the very least I wish I could have told Stan not to be his own hero five days ago. Then maybe I wouldn't be sitting here in The Center. Waiting and waiting…

_Hello again readers! I'm back again with another original South Park story. After wrapping up Prisoner of The Mind I knew the next thing I wanted to work on was another chapter story. This idea came to mind fairly quickly. I am pretty certain that the only character's point-of-view I will write in will be Kyle's. As much as I love Stan there's something really enjoyable writing in Kyle's POV. Other chapters will be in my own POV. I still have a story left to finish for Welcome to the Marsh House. Hopefully I can finish that up soon. I also really hope to complete Sharon's letter for my story These Words on Paper soon. It's honestly tough to get into that mind-set for obvious reasons. Anyway, hope you are looking forward to this new story. Please do leave a review, it makes my day. Thanks a ton._

_Lots of love: Rose, March 1, 2020_


	2. Home Base

**HOME BASE**

_My POV_

_February 2__nd__ 2018_

When the school bus dropped Stan off at the bus stop that afternoon he wasted no time hurrying home. His grandparents from California were stopping by before he and Shelley went off to Fielding Creek and he was looking forward to seeing them, at least for a couple days. That, and his grandfather told him that he had a special present for him. Stan wasn't sure what it could be, then again his mother's parents were pretty well-off so it could have been anything. He stepped inside the door of his house to find it empty. He wasn't surprised, he knew the drive to the airport in Denver was a long one so his mom and grandparents probably wouldn't be home until later that evening. With nothing left to do he went to watch some TV, just in case that was something he would have to share with other kids his age once he got to the new town.

The Kimbles arrived around six that evening, the same time Randy walked in so naturally they decided to head out for dinner.

"Our treat," Grandpa Peter waved his wallet out just before they left.

"Oh, well count me in then," Randy smiled.

The family enjoyed a nice dinner at Chili's. Randy wanted to go somewhere with more piz-azz since his in-laws were paying but Chili's was Stan's favorite restaurant and once he made the suggestion and Grandpa Peter said 'they hadn't been there in months' then it was decided.

"So how was your flight?" Stan asked his grandparents as he ate from a plate of loaded nachos in front of everyone.

"It was pretty mild for once. We all know how much turbulence you can expect going over the Rockies but really, it was very smooth," Grandma Ellen answered.

"But enough about us, what about you two? Excited for your little adventure?" Grandpa Peter passed off.

"I am," Shelley immediately said. "I finally get to have a break from this family. It's going to be so nice."

"Now Shelley, surely you will miss your parents a little," her grandmother frowned. "And from what your mother has told me you will still be seeing your little brother plenty. I heard there will be special sibling bonding days each week. This will be a great thing for brothers and sisters or for those kids that have a big enough age gap between them other since the sleeping arrangements are divided as such."

Stan groaned now. "Don't remind me. It sounds so lame. I don't want to be forced to spend time with _her_."

"I don't want to be forced to spend time with you, you stupid bratty turd," Shelley bit back.

"Kids, come on… you're family," Grandpa Peter spoke gently.

"Yes. And now that you won't be home for at least three months you really need to be there for each other. Shelley dear you need to look out for Stanley and make sure he feels safe and happy there and that he doesn't get home-sick," Grandma Ellen spoke with an almost troubled look on her face as she wiped her lip with her napkin.

"Grandma, I think I'll be okay. I have friends unlike her. I really think I'll be okay," Stan said around his Sprite.

"Shut the hell up _turd_!"

Grandpa Peter sighed as he turned to his daughter and her husband. "Well Sharon and Randy, overall, are you feeling okay about this Fielder's Cliff thing?"

"It's Fielding Creek Dad," Sharon corrected. "And yes, I think we are feeling pretty good about it overall. Right Randy?"

"Huh?" Randy looked up from his second beer. "Oh, right. Yeah, I don't see anything weird about it. That big parents meeting really put me at ease."

At that moment their entrees arrived and so they dug in. A couple minutes into their food Grandpa Peter looked up again. "From what you've told me and from what I saw online kids will be assigned jobs. That's a big odd, don't you think? I mean what happened to Child Labor Laws?"

Sharon rolled her eyes now. "Dad, it's just a way for the kids to take some responsibility over their own lives. To make a little money as if they were an adult. They won't be doing heavy back-breaking labor. And if the child doesn't want a job he won't be forced into one."

Grandpa Peter turned to his grandchildren again. "Well? Are you two hoping for a job placement when you're out there?"

Shelley was glaring into her shrimp pasta. "Well I have no choice since I'm thirteen. I just hope it's not something completely stupid."

"I signed up for one. I like the idea of getting paid to do something," Stan smiled.

"But Stanley, you're only nine," Grandma Ellen chimed in.

"Mom, you don't know how Stanley can be. He really likes doing little jobs and such around town already. He's always coming up with new ideas with his friends. He really is a helpful boy. I'm not surprised one bit he'd want a job," Sharon came to her son's defense.

The overall dinner was marred with mixed emotions from each member of the Marsh/Kimble family. That night Grandma Ellen took over her daughter's usual tucking in ritual concerning Stan that night. Stan was happy to have his grandma tuck him into bed for once although couldn't help but notice the slight frown on her face as she pulled his covers to his shoulders.

"Stanley… are you sure you'll be okay in a couple days?"

Stan rolled his eyes. "Yes Grandma. I know you and Grandpa brought up some good points but I really think we'll be fine. Everything that a normal town has to function is at Fielding Creek. And if it's not, if I do get into an unfortunate injury or get really sick they will take me out and I can go home. But I want to do this. There's some big mystery prize if I win it."

"Do you really think you can win the entire thing?"

Stan shrugged. "The chances are pretty low. Especially if older kids will be there. Surely they'll outlast everyone else. But I'd like to try and see how far I get. I like a good challenge."

Grandma Ellen sighed but touched his face and kissed his cheek. "If you really feel confident then I have to take your word for it sweetheart."

_February 4__th_

Sharon was currently busy going up and down the stairs of the house that night as she made sure her kids were ready for tomorrow, of course this meant many groans and eye rolls from Shelley and Stan as she had them open their bags to go over everything one last time.

"We already went over everything," Shelley pointed out.

"Why don't you trust us?" Stan gave his mother a hard look.

Sharon ignored this as she pulled out the Fielding Creek handbook given out weeks ago. "Okay, 'Each child is allowed two standard-sized suitcases of belongings as well as one standard-sized backpack or shoulder bag.' Okay you have that. 'Each child is to have clothing suited for both warm and cold weather. Scarves, mittens, and hats are allowed. Bathing suits are also allowed.' Okay, you both have your bathing suits correct?"

"I hate swimming so no," Shelley glared.

"'Each child is allowed up to four pairs of shoes, preferably at least two sturdy pairs. Flip-flops/sandals are allowed,'" Sharon continued to read.

"I packed flip-flops," Stan pointed to a large inside pocket of his open suitcase where three other pairs of shoes were.

"'List of items not allowed: weapons (knives, guns, lighters, pokers, scissors of any kind), formal wear, shorts above the knee, low-cut tops, personal electronics (cell phones, hand-held video games, ipods, cameras), curling irons…' Right, I know I went over your clothing last night so we are good there," Sharon moved around a few items in both kids' suitcases just in case. She then turned to her son's suitcases. "Okay Stanley, I decided not to pack your nebulizer since you don't you it too often. However you do have two inhalers okay?"

Stan rolled his eyes. "_Mom_, seriously, I don't need two. I only use it once a week."

"Just in case, we can't be too careful. Now, did you pack any special books you two? Or any toys or games you wanted to bring Stanley?"

"I brought a few things," Stan said casually.

Sharon was poking around again. "Ohh, honey, you didn't bring Ruffy?"

Stan felt his cheeks burn as Shelley began to laugh. "No. I don't need him. I mean, I'm sure Cartman's going to bring Clyde Frog or something because he's gay like that."

"I'm sure he'll remind you of home though. I know you're excited about this little adventure sweetie but you are still only nine. I want you to have something to remind you of home."

"I can call you and Dad easy. Yeah I'll miss you guys but this is a chance to prove I can be responsible and mature," Stan looked at his bare feet as he said this. A small part of him wanted to take his old lovey along but he knew if his friends found out he still had it they would rip on him until next year. Everyone knew Cartman broke out his stuffed animals for fun but no one knew he still held on his own from time-to-time.

Sharon began looking into her kids' bags again as she refereed back to the list. She grabbed a small bag from Shelley's backpack. "Sorry Shelley but art supplies aren't allowed."

"Are you serious? They think I'm going to stab someone with a fucking pencil?" Shelley growled.

"Sorry, but it goes over how they will provide brand-new art supplies for everyone that wants them. Plus you can buy your own with the money you make from your job." Sharon then took out a blue plastic pouch from Stan's suitcase and a clear pouch from Shelley's. "Sorry but these aren't allowed either."

"What the hell? We can't bring fucking toothbrushes or anything?" Stan opened his mouth in surprise at the little pouch he had packed with his toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.

"'All health-related items will be provided to each child upon arrival,'" Sharon was reading from the booklet. "'This includes toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, Band-Aids, and first-aid kits stocked in each housing unit.'"

"What if we don't like the stuff they provide?" Stan questioned.

"I don't know dear but at the same time I don't think you have that choice. Again, maybe you can purchase your own items with your earnings. I'm not quite sure everything you are allowed to buy in town."

Ten minutes later all six pieces of luggage for both kids were properly sorted and packed. Satisfied their mother was finally done, Shelley retreated back upstairs to hop on her laptop one last time before tomorrow. Sharon went out in the backyard where her parents currently were and Stan took up a spot on the couch, grabbing the TV remote. It was now 9:10 and he should have been in bed by now but had a feeling his mother didn't want to nag him on such things on his very last night so he happily began flipping the channels. Just then Grandpa Marsh entered the room, powering himself with his electric wheelchair.

"Hey there Billy. Anything good on the television?"

"Just another rerun of Cops," Stan pointed out.

"Mark my words Billy, if you ever land your behind on that show I'm going to"-

"I'm not going to be some criminal on Cops Grandpa," Stan rolled his eyes.

Grandpa Marsh frowned. "Hm, you better not Billy. Anyway, Grandpa wanted to give you a lil' something before you leave on your big trip tomorrow."

Stan's heart sank. "Um, that's okay Grandpa…" He thought Grandpa Kimble was the one who was going to be giving him something just before he left. Again, gifts from his mom's parents were always expensive and nice. Gifts from Grandpa Marsh however…

"Relax there son, it's something really good and really useful. Let me show you…" Grandpa Marsh pushed his was a little closer to Stan so that he was now blocking his view of the TV. Stan tried to look past him but to no avail. He was the passed along a small red box. Curious, Stan opened it up. He pulled out a slender red object slightly bigger than his hand.

"What is it?"

"What? You mean to tell me a boy in this day and age doesn't recognize a Swiss-army Knife when he sees one? What the hell has that lousy father of yours been teaching you?" Grandpa Marsh grabbed the object from the boy's hand and began pulling things out from it. "Look here Billy: this thing has it all. Knife, screwdriver, corkscrew, chisel, shackle opener, bottle opener. Dead useful things these are."

"Oh wow…"

"I felt this would be a good thing to have on hand. You never know if you might run into trouble. You gotta be a man and defend yourself," Grandpa Marsh said aggressively.

Stan rolled the item around in his fingers for a moment. "Thanks Grandpa, this is really cool. Oh, but um, I don't think we're allowed to bring these."

"Nonsense! A boy's gotta defend himself! Stuff it in your shoe if you have to." With that, Grandpa Marsh wheeled out of the living room down the hall.

Stan carefully placed the blades and such back into place and the Swiss-Army Knife back in the box. While it was a nice gesture he knew he'd be banned from Fielding Creek before he even got there if he was found to have this in his possession. He'd hide it away in his closet, knowing his grandfather would probably forget all about it by tomorrow anyway. It was now 9:45 and he was finally feeling tired. He turned off the TV and went upstairs to go to bed. His mother tucked him in one last time and he was just about to drift off to sleep when Grandpa Peter entered his room.

"Stanley? You awake still?" he whispered, tapping his door.

Stan rubbed his eyes and nodded. Grandpa Peter looked behind him for a second before closing the door and walking to his bed.

"What is it Grandpa?"

"I just wanted to give you something before you leave tomorrow morning. I wanted to do it away from your mother, there's no way she'd approve."

Stan got excited and sat up now as he was passed along a small rectangle box. He unwrapped it and his heart skipped a beat when he noticed the iconic Apple image that was printed on the box.

"No way…" he hurriedly tore open the box with numb fingers to find himself face-to-face with a brand-new cell phone.

"It's an iphone XR. Now I know phones are prohibited but I wanted you to take this with you. Just in case," Grandpa Peter explained.

Stan shook his head. "Thank-you so much. But-but they're not allowed."

"I know. But it's slim enough I think you could hide it somewhere in your suitcase or backpack."

Stan turned the device on, still hardly daring to believe it. "Mom said I can't have my own phone until I'm ten."

"I know, I know. That's why I wanted you to open now, away from her."

"But why? It's awesome of course but why didn't you give me this for, I dunno, Christmas a couple months ago? Or my ninth birthday?"

Grandpa Marsh looked a little troubled. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Honestly son, I feel now was the best time. I don't want to alarm you but I do not have the best feeling about this Fielding Creek place. I just don't like the idea of kids living together without any adults around. Being given jobs. In charge of looking out for themselves. For their younger siblings. I know you think you'll be fine, and I trust you, as well as Shelley but we both know how your sister can be… I hardly doubt she's going to step up to her role as 'big sis' the next three months so I wanted you to have something to make you feel slightly safer. In case there is an emergency. Or hey, if you just want to tell me all the cool things you get to do, that would be great too. Just… be careful Stan. You're still a child. Enjoy all the perks that come from that. Don't stress yourself out too much there. My number is in there, as is Grandma's, your mom's, and your dad's. But resist talking to your parents on this if you can." Grandpa Peter placed both hands on Stan's shoulders now. "Promise me you'll be careful, okay kiddo?"

Stan nodded and gave the man a hug. "Yeah, sure thing. Thanks a lot, again."

Grandpa Peter smiled and got to his feet. He was about to walk out when he turned back. "Oh, and whatever you do, do _not_ tell your mother."

Stan grinned back. "Never."

_February 5__th_

Stan and Shelley had to wake up at 6:00 that morning, along with all the other kids in town that were participating in the Fielding Creek experience. Their luggage was packed into the car and Randy drove the family to the local bus station where everyone would be boarding a two-hour long trip to their temporary new home. Several busses were docked at the station and there were several long lines to check each child in. As with the health checks, each child stood in a specific line pertaining to their age. After official workers of The Center for Fielding Creek took hold of each child's forms and ran their suitcases and backpacks through an x-ray machine were they allowed to say goodbye to their parents.

"Have a good time son. I'm sure you'll do fine. Have fun, but also push yourself too, okay?" Randy said as he hugged Stan good-bye.

"Okay."

"Shelley, you make sure you keep fighting with other girls at a minimum," Sharon scolded. "And look after your brother even if he doesn't want you to."

"_Yes_ Mom," Shelley rolled her eyes as she gave her mother a quick hug, not one to like physical acts of affection such as hugs anyway.

Sharon bent down to her son's level and gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. "Be safe sweetie. I hope you have a good time. Make smart choices. And if you get homesick and want to come back that's okay."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Stan said honestly.

Sharon dabbed her eye as she got to her feet. "I love you Stanley. Shelley. I'll miss you both."

"Love you too Mom. See ya," Stan waved just as Kyle came into view and tugged his sleeve.

"C'mon dude, we have to get a good seat together before the busses fill up."

Stan took hold of his carry-on bag and went to get in line to get on bus four. When he got on he noticed a mix of kids of different ages there although nearly half were ages six and under with some teenagers mixed in. Both boys were happy to note that Cartman wasn't on this bus. The boys took a seat closer to the front and went to get comfortable for the ride to their new home. The kids gathered near the windows one last time to wave good-bye to their parents as one by one, the buses finally left the station.

"So? Feeling excited?" Kyle asked a couple minutes in.

"You bet." Stan yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Honestly though dude I kinda want to nap for a while. I went to bed late and we had to get here at the crack of dawn."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kyle leaned his head on the window of his seat as Stan adjusted his seat back slightly and closed his eyes. The two napped for close to an hour before they were shaken awake by the sound of the bus's tires screeching on the icy road.

"I wonder where exactly the town is," Kyle spoke, looking outside.

"Dunno. It seems as if it's a brand-new thing. Maybe they built it over an old ghost town or something? Or it could be near Willowbrook. That's a pretty tiny town with nothing but land and it does have that one creek running through it. Maybe they thought that would be a good place for a new development, that's why they named it Fielding Creek?" Stan suggested.

"Maybe. I wonder when we get our jobs and such. I'm curious as to where they'll place me," Kyle rubbed his chin.

"Me too. I told the interview people I liked sports and animals and video games. They then asked if I liked working with others and I said yeah."

"Same. I wonder if I'll be working at the health office since I told them I want to be a doctor when I grow up," Kyle pondered.

Stan smirked. "So you officially want to be a doctor? I thought you only said that because I told you that you'd make a good one."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "C'mon Stan. I'm a straight-A Jewish kid. What else am I going to be?"

Stan laughed as the two continued to talk of the new town, playing rounds of hangman on some paper they found in pockets behind their seats. Finally by 10 AM did the busses finally reach their destination.

"Oh wow…" Stan and Kyle gasped as they slowly approached large golden gates with a sign above that read _Welcome to Fielding Creek _written in fancy white font. On either side of the gates ran a brick wall that went on for miles. The busses went down a road where few buildings were before finally stopping. One by one kids poured out of the vehicles, excitedly talking and walking around trying to find friends and siblings. Cartman and Kenny found Stan and Kyle quickly. Stan took note that they were in front of what had to be some sort of government office or house of some sort due to its size and structure. There was also a flagpole with two flags waving in the cold air, one was the Colorado state flag, the other had to be some sort of official symbol for the town. In front of the building was a podium as well as a long table. At that moment four teenagers approached the tables while one more took the podium.

"Attention, attention please," the teenage girl spoke into the microphone, tapping it. "Please, can everyone quiet down for a moment? There are some important things to go over before we begin." Several seconds later the chatter died down. "Thank-you. My name is Kendra Velspar and I am one of the official commanders of Fielding Creek."

"Commander? She already has a job?" Kyle whispered to Stan.

"Guess so," Stan shrugged.

"Now I am sure everyone here has many questions and I hope not only myself, but my fellow commanders as well as the mayor of Fielding Creek can answer the majority of those questions. But for now I would like to introduce you all to the mayor of Fielding Creek, Mayor Benjamin Tronnoley!" the other commanders clapped as a boy around eighteen took the podium. He was stocky with short brown hair and sharp brown eyes. But once he smiled and waved he looked slightly less intimidating.

"Wait a minute, we have to answer to this asshole?" Cartman spat.

"Thank-you Kendra. Hello fellow residents of Fielding Creek! Welcome, welcome. Now I know there are a million things you would like to know, the top question is surely where you will actually be living. Not to worry, you will get a chance to explore your homes and the town itself soon. Now, since this is all new to us, even myself, I _am_ only eighteen…. I would like us all to display patience as much as possible. Now if you can recall, we are all here for one reason only, to show the world, mainly our parents, that we have what it takes to run a town. And if we each individually do a good job, we might even be lucky enough to win the mystery grand prize in the end. And that's exiting to think about isn't it?"

"Sure sure," Cartman rolled his eyes.

Mayor Tronnoley cleared his throat. "Here in town we will function as normal kids do and are allowed to engage in normal kid activities. That means that children ages four through seventeen are required to go to school four days a week." There were many groans at this. "I know, I know, but we want to improve ourselves once we are all reevaluated, correct? Those that are eighteen are not required to go to school. However you will be spending those hours instead working on a trade or skill. It might be related to the job that you are given here, it might not be. Every one of us will have our own set schedules which will be given out tomorrow. Depending on age, those schedules will tell you when you are required to go to school and when you are expected to be at your job. Understand?"

"I wonder if we'll have the same schedule," Kyle whispered to Stan.

"I hope so."

"Those with jobs will be given more details tomorrow. However I do want to go over the basics: depending on age, you will be given a set amount per hour you work. The youngest children that are qualified for jobs are age eight, as you might have remembered during your interviews weeks ago. These jobs might seem basic enough but as with any good healthy town, every person plays their part in making things run. So even if you might find your job unimportant, I can assure you it is not," Mayor Tonnoley pointed a confident finger in the air. "Those ages twelve and up will be given a job regardless. Now I think it's time to move on to perhaps the most important part of our new little town, our Class System called 'Tiers'."

"Huh?" Stan and Kyle both shared confused looks.

"This is a system set up to better group everyone based on both age and sex since there are so many of us here. Ha, who knew there were this many kids in South Park, right?" Benjamin Tonnoley chuckled. "Right, let me explain. Tier I consists of children ages six months through age three. In this group we currently have fifty-four participates. Tier II consists of those ages four through seven with 134 participates. Tier III consists of children ages eight through eleven with 180 kids in total there. Tier IV is for children ages twelve through fifteen. We have 223 participates in this category. And finally, Tier V for those ages sixteen through eighteen with a total of 243."

"What the fuck? All the teenagers out number us!" Cartman raged.

Many kids began to talk to one another again after this. Mayor Tonnoley tapped the mike again to get their attention. "Now I know there are still many questions everyone here has and I promise I and my commanding officers will try and get to them all, but now it not that time. We will hold the first official Fielding Creek meeting at the Multi-Purpose Room which is located just outside Bear Crossing Park. The meeting is at 5 P.M. and the location is located on maps which each of you will be given in your own personal packets. These packets will have all your information in it. Your schooling and job schedules, immediate medical information, maps, how and when you can call your parents, and any other information you might need for those first few days here. I would like everyone here to be able to explore their new living quarters before we proceed with anything else though." The mayor cleared his throat again. "For that I would like each one of you to form lines based upon which Tier you are in. Tier one's go in line one, Tier two's, line two, and so on so forth… any person here that has a younger sibling with whom might need extra assistance you are free to help them before you get your own packets. Once you reach one of the commanding officers, you are to give them your name and age and they will hand you your packet. Easy enough, correct? That being said, feel free to explore the town for the next few hours and I will see everyone this evening at five. Have a good first afternoon at Fielding Creek!" the teenager smiled one last time.

As soon as he was finished there was a great roar as hundreds of kids of all ages began shuffling about, trying to get into the right line. Stan noticed Kyle dip away from him.

"Dude, where are you going? We need to get in the Tier III line," Stan pointed out.

"I'm going to see if Ike needs my help first. I'll be back soon," Kyle waved off before going off to find his little brother.

Shrugging, Stan went to get in the ever-growing line for kids in Tier III, followed closely by Cartman, Kenny, and Butters. Stan sighed as he stood in line for those next thirty minutes. It seemed as if every aspect of this Fielding Creek place consisted of standing and waiting in a long line so far. He hoped he'd be able to live a little after today. Finally it was his turn and he stepped to the long table to a teenage boy that had a nametag on his shirt reading Chad.

"Name and age?" Chad asked.

"Stan, or Stanley, Marsh. Nine," Stan answered.

Chad hummed as he riffled through a box in front of him. He handed over a folder seconds later. Stan took it and met up with his friends after. Twenty minutes later Kyle joined them.

"Well according to this the Tier III Boy's House is on…Greenery Avenue," Kyle read off a paper.

Stan glanced at his friend's paper then back at his own. "Where is everyone located? It says here I'm in Dorm B."

Kyle looked back at his papers. "Really? I'm… in Dorm A. Damn, I guess we won't be bunking together dude."

"Pfff, fags," Cartman sniggered.

Stan looked up now. "So how do we get there? Is it close enough to walk to or what?"

Kyle looked ahead then smiled, pointing. "Look you guys! Looks as if there's public transportation here. Awesome!"

The five boys hurried over to what looked to be a shuttle van operated by another teenager. They gave the boy directions where to go, and after they waited around five minutes later so a handful of other kids could hop in, the boy drove off. Stan smiled as he looked out the window; they passed a coffee shop, a taco shop, Snips and Clips Hair Salon, and two parks. All normal places that any town had. They drove a little while more and ended up on a black street with nothing on either side of it but for a few pine trees scattered about. The shuttle finally stopped at its location and several boys hopped out.

"Holy shit dude…" Stan gasped, looking up.

"No way," Kyle said eyes just as wide.

"We get to live here?" Cartman asked, eyes bugging out.

"I can't believe it," Kenny muffled.

"I repeat: we get to live _here_?"

They were looking up at what looked to be a mansion, five stories tall, complete with turrets and windows galore. All they could do was stand there and look for the next minute or two before a few boys slightly older than them ran by, talking excitedly. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and Butters hurried in after. As soon as they stepped inside they noticed a large living area to the left and a dining room with a long table to the left. The dining room led to a huge kitchen with at least three ovens and stoves. They took note of the staircase that sat in the middle of the first floor that had to lead to the floors above. Near the living room was a bathroom with five stalls. They stepped down into a sunken floor near the back of the house where a second large kitchen and dining room was and across from that were sliding doors to the backyard. They noticed a large room with a door that was across the second dining area.

"What's in _hereah_?" Cartman pondered and opened the door.

"Oh wow!" Kyle cried out.

"No… fucking way," Cartman gasped. The door opened to reveal a small movie theater, complete with floor-to-ceiling screen and several cushioned seats.

"This is like, the coolest house ever," Stan pumped his fists in joy.

"Dude, let's go upstairs, see our actual rooms," Kyle said.

Stan took out his folder. "Since we are nine years old… says here that our space is on floor three."

"You guys! You guys! Look!" Cartman hurried over to a shiny door near the back of the first floor. "An elevator! There's an elevator in here!"

"Perfect for fatasses such as yourself," Kyle pointed out.

"Hey, shut the hell up you fucking Jew. Only someone like you would have a problem with a fucking elevator inside your house." Cartman pushed the up button. "See you losers on the third floor."

Stan and Kyle chose to run up the two flights of stairs to get to their floor, both enjoying the experience of running up and down stairs. The third floor had a living room off to the left and four of the doors on the floor had a letter on them: A, B, C, and D. There was also five bathrooms in total on the floor, each complete with a sink and bathtub/shower combo. Since Kyle was assigned to Dorm A, he went to explore his dorm. Stan noticed the double doors to Dorm B were already open. His other room mates were probably in there. Curious, he stepped inside.

The bedroom was large, as was every other part of the house so far. To his left were two beds, to the right were two more, and in the middle against the wall with the windows, sat two more. He then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Stan! Wow-wee, I'm sure glad we're roommates!" Butters beamed in happiness.

"Oh, hey Butters."

"Hey dude, we're roommates too," Kenny spoke, sitting on the last bed of the room. "And your bed's right next to mine."

"We have assigned beds?" Stan frowned, walking to the right side of the room.

"Why uhh, yeah. They're numbered, clockwise. That first bed over there is bed one. Some kid named David has that spot according to the bag on top," Butters pointed out. "Um, I'm next to him in bed two. Jimmy has bed three, some other kid named Alec is in bed four, you're in bed five Stan, and why uhh, Kenny's in bed six." With that Butters walked over to his spot of the room.

Stan cautiously walked over to his bed. A bedside table with a small lamp was on the right side. His suitcases were already next to it. He immediately dug into one of them, feeling down the bottom of the suitcase to a small bundle. He unraveled the layers of shirts and pillowcases until he saw it- the sleek black screen of his brand-new phone. He sighed in relief; it had made it through both the x-ray machine and its journey to Fielding Creek. As long as he was careful with it he should have been able to use it no problem. He wrapped the item back up and took a seat on the bed. Stan noticed there were closets near the front door of the bedroom. He then looked down atop the blue covers of his bed and noticed a mesh drawstring bag with his name on it. He opened it up to see a set of bathroom essentials inside. A toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, a small bottle of shampoo and conditioner, and a bar of soap. He frowned when he looked at his toothbrush- it was orange. Never a color he used for anything he ever owned.

"I'll trade you," spoke a voice over his shoulder.

"Huh?" Stan turned around to see a boy standing at the foot of his bed. He had choppy light brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a blue and orange long-sleeved shirt.

"I'll trade you toothbrushes. Honestly, red isn't really my color," the boy smiled, holding his out.

Stan smiled back and they traded. "Cool. Thanks."

The boy held out a hand. "I'm Alec Buchanan by the way."

"Stan Marsh," Stan said as he took the hand.

"Kind of stupid for the people here to assume what color of shit we want, am I right?"

"Really. Unless it's Halloween I never use anything orange. Red however…"

Alec chuckled. "So, why'd you decide to take part in this thing anyway? If you don't mind me asking?"

Stan thought. "It sounded pretty cool. I like taking chances, exploring new ideas and places. You?"

Alec rubbed his chin. "I thought it would be a good thing for me to be my own person for once. It's kind of hard to achieve that currently."

"Really? How come?"

Stan allowed the boy to hop on his bed.

"Well I have a twin brother."

"Ohh…"

"Yeah. So people always think of us as a unit. Even though we are nothing alike. So it'll be nice to get away from that for a while. I mean yeah I love my family of course but I want to do my own thing for a while. Understand?"

"Of course."

"Did you come here with any siblings?"

Stan's eyes dilated for a half-second, completely forgetting he had any. "I have an older sister, Shelley. She's thirteen. And I get what you mean, wanting to get away from your siblings for a while. She is the _worst_ excuse for an older sister. A complete bitch."

The two chatted some more before Stan had to point out the boy's shirt.

"Dude, it's a Denver Broncos shirt. Look"- he pointed out a _DB_ on the lower part of the shirt before turning around where a full motif of the Denver Broncos logo was on the back.

"Sick dude!" Stan beamed.

"You a fan?" Alec looked excited.

"Hell yeah! I love football. I love sports in general."

"Me too! Oh man, I'm really glad we were able to see the Super Bowl the other day before we left."

The two talked some more for a half hour before they both agreed to go explore the town together. Stan and Alec stepped into the elevator to go down and just as they were passing by the living room downstairs did Stan's eyes go wide.

"Kyle!" he exclaimed at the red head sitting on the couch.

"Finally dude. What took you so long?" he walked over to him and spotted the new kid next to him. "Um, who's this?"

"Oh, um, my roommate. Alec. Alec, this is Kyle, my best friend," Stan introduced.

The two shook hands briefly. "I don't really recall seeing you around town before," Kyle took note.

"Yeah, you might not have. I only moved to South Park with my family two years ago. Stan told me he has Mr. Garrison as his teacher. I have Mrs. Dorcey."

"Hmm… well, do you want to walk around town?" Kyle turned to Stan, clearly already feeling threatened by this newcomer.

"Um, sure dude." Stan looked at Alec now.

Alec grinned. "Hey, no worries man. I'll catch you later. We are roommates aren't we? I think I saw one of my friends walk out just now. See you later then."

Kyle took out his map of the town as they stepped out of the house. "I think we should walk the path that takes us to school so we know where it's at tomorrow."

"Damn, we already have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Well my first day starts on Wednesday. I have Tuesdays off. Our entire schedules are written in the packets as are our jobs. Did you not look at it yet?"

Stan raised a finger in the air, mouth open, then shut it. "Um, I'll be right back…"

Kyle sighed and waited around five more minutes while Stan ran back in the house to grab his schedule. The two compared each other's school and work schedules. Stan was listed as an Event Coordinator for Tier II while Kyle's job ended up being a receptionist at the health office. Both boys felt a little confused and disappointed with their assigned jobs.

"Aww man, I don't want to have to work with little kids. I did once when I had to coach little league hockey and it sucked," Stan frowned.

"And a receptionist? Me? What part of me says I want to sit behind a desk all day?"

"Maybe it's because you said you want to be a doctor when you grow up but you're too young to actually do any of that stuff. They probably gave the actual doctor or nurse jobs to the teenagers," Stan presumed. According to Stan's schedule he had school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, while Kyle had school Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The two boys decided to walk to the school building for it appeared close enough according to the map. As they made their way around town they took note of important places by circling the building on their maps. They passed by a library, at least four parks, two ice cream shops, a candy store, video arcade, and even a bank. They also took note on signposts along the street that read Shuttle Stop on it with the schedule of when the shuttle van stopped by at that location.

They explored as much as they could before it was time for the big town meeting at the Multi-Purpose Room at five. The place resembled a theater inside, with rows and rows of seats that went up. A stage was set out in front of everyone where a handful of podiums were set out. Finally by 5:15 it appeared as if the majority of the residents had found their way inside. Once everyone had quieted down Mayor Tronnoley addressed the crowd.

"Good evening residents of Fielding Creek. Now I am sure many of you have questions so my colleagues and myself will try to get to as many as we can tonight. But I know that it is also close to dinner and I am sure the majority of everyone here is only thinking about food. This will bring me to my first order of business: for your very first meal here at Fielding Creek, you all will be allowed to use your Free Meal Pass that was given to you in your folders. This is good for any meal that you choose to have at any food establishment in town."

"Sweet," Cartman was smiling, rubbing his hands together.

"Free Meal Passes is one of the perks you are allowed for good conduct and overall good performance during your time here. For you see, the more you are able to show not only yourself, but others, how well you can look after yourself and follow our simple rules, the more privileges you are allowed. These privileges range from anything to extra time talking with your parents to special usage of the indoor pool or arcade in town. If you do give authority figures any trouble you may have privileges revoked. But I can only hope we will all do our very best to be on good behavior. Right?" the eighteen-year-old smiled at the crowd of kids.

Stan and Kyle shared a look. They weren't bad kids; they didn't purposefully try to get into trouble or danger. Unfortunately those kinds of things tended to follow them no matter how much they tried to listen to the rules. Although there were times they threw rules out the door and did whatever they wanted because it was the right thing to do in their mind. They would just have to pay attention to get a good feel as to what was and wasn't allowed.

Mayor Tonnoley cleared his throat. "This leads into an important part of the privileges system. For those of you that have younger siblings here it is very important that you show good conduct and set good examples in your day-to-day life here. Younger siblings too should try their best to behave since privileges work best in sibling relationships. If either sibling does break a particular rule then it will reflect on the both of you and a privilege may be taken away. Again, this town was set up to prove to yourselves and others how well you can work on your own but also with others. Since there are not any parents here to punish you it is up to you to get along as best you can. I repeat, older siblings, your younger brothers and sisters will be counting on you to be the leader to represent your family."

Stan groaned as he sank into his chair. Might as well throw in the towel now because there was no way in hell Shelley would do her part in being a 'leader' in any way.

Mayor Tonnoley went on to explain some things regarding jobs, pay, and school before the floor was open for questions. One girl around age thirteen asked what they could do with the money they earned. Financial Advisor Henry Westfall answered by saying that what each person did with their money was up to them. It could be used for food establishments, groceries, clothes, toys, specialty items. Anything they wanted. Another girl asked when they could talk to their parents. Phones were set up in each house for free use, although special video calls took place Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. A five-year-old boy asked if there was a set bedtime, Mayor Tonnoley said no. One kid around age eleven asked about the very young children that couldn't get a job yet. Paid baby-sitters were to care for them and their items would be provided, however older siblings could purchase items for their siblings if they wanted. A teenager in the crowd asked about The Center.

"It was brought up during my interview. I wanted to understand just what it is," he asked.

Commander Kendra took over. "The Center is a building miles from here that provides Fielding Creek with what it needs to sustain itself. Electricity, gas, items that cannot be purchased in stores. They provide each House with items that are free of charge such as milk, sugar, toilet paper. The Center is also the home base for those that do get injured or fall ill while they are here when our main health office cannot provide care. There is a full staff of medical doctors, nurses, and dentists at The Center if any child here needs to see one."

One child raised her hand. "Is it true that once you arrive at The Center, you are not allowed back in town?"

Mayor Tonnoley chuckled at this. "No honey that is not the case. The only reasons one would need to be taken to The Center is if they are ill, injured, or violate a rule severely enough that lack of privileges might not be punishment enough. But again, these cases will hopefully be rare."

The last question of the night was asked by Wendy. "I want to understand completely what happens if one of us does decide they want to go back home."

Mayor Tonnoley sighed. "Honestly, if anyone here does feel the desire to leave, they may do so. However I do want to remind you that they point of being here in the first place is to stay as long as possible. The longer you stay, the higher the chances are you could win this. I'm not sure what the prize is at the end but I do know that is will be great. And worth everything if you happen to be the lucky one to win. Winning does not just mean you outlasted your peers or roommates; being the very best person you can be is a critical factor. That is what you will be judged upon. Did you make it to the end? Were you a model citizen? Did you help out your peers? Friends? Siblings? Did you stay on top of schoolwork? How did you perform in your job? And of course did you improve upon your health and dental checks performed weeks ago? For you see, everything matters. But try your best to enjoy it. That is why you all signed up, correct? To have fun and make your own life, for a little while at least. So do just that and you should do just fine." With that, the mayor waved a hand and excused everyone they were now free to begin their adventure.

Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny met up outside the Multi-Purpose room, eager to talk of what they had just been told. It was of course a lot to take in.

"I'm glad I can have some say in how things go when it comes to Ike," Kyle was saying. "I can actually be rewarded for doing a good job being a big brother."

Stan sighed. "Shelley's going to screw me over so much."

"So where should we go for dinner?" Cartman said, taking a hold of his Free Meal Pass from his folder.

"Is that really all you care about you fat fuck?" Kyle glared his way.

"Dude, we can eat wherever we want tonight for free. I saw a taco shop coming here. There was also a place called Pizza Builder."

"Oh cool. I've always wanted to try one of those build-it-yourself pizza places," Stan smiled.

The boys were just about to hop on a shuttle bus when Kyle heard a small voice calling his name. He turned around to see Ike hurrying his way.

"Oh, hey Ike."

"Can I eat wit you?"

"Uhh, sure man. But you don't want to eat with your friends?"

Ike shook his head no. Cartman looked annoyed at the thought of the Jew's stupid brother joining but said nothing as he hopped on the shuttle. The boys weren't the only ones that wanted pizza that night; the line was long once they reached the restaurant and they waited for thirty minutes before finally being able to order. Stan was glad to finally be able to order a pizza exactly how he wanted it: with extra cheese, pepperoni, bacon, chicken, and a few sprigs of onion. He was only able to eat half; he'd have the rest tomorrow. It was 8 o'clock when they reached their house and once there they had little intention to get ready for bed. They lounged around the living room on the third floor watching TV until it was almost ten. Only then did all the nine-year-olds on that floor slowly start to retreat to get ready for bed. All five bathrooms filled quickly. Stan was feeling tired now and decided he would just take a shower tomorrow. However he still did have to wait twenty minutes until a bathroom was available so he could brush his teeth. At that moment he pulled out his brand-new phone from his mesh bathroom bag to text his grandfather.

Stan: _Hey Grandpa. It's Stan. Made it here safe. Phone made it past security. I promise to be careful with it. Thought you should know._

Grandpa Peter: _Good to know kiddo. I hope you and Shelley have a good time. Keep in touch when it's safe._

Stan: _I will. Tell Grandma I said hi._

Grandpa Peter: _Will do_

Stan dressed in his pajamas, peed one last time, and placed his toothbrush, toothpaste, and phone back in his bag and went back to his room.

"See ya later then," he waved to Kyle as he walked into the first room.

Bedroom B was already dark. It appeared as if roommates Butters, Kenny, Jimmy, and David were already in bed. Stan did note Alec was still awake as he passed his bed. As soon as Stan hopped in his bed Alec turned to him.

"Pssst, you tired dude?"

Stan shrugged. "A little. I mean, I have school tomorrow so I guess I have to get a little sleep. You?"

"Yeah, I have school too. Guess I should sleep. Hey, did you get assigned a job?"

"Yeah, I'm an 'Event Coordinator for Tier II', whatever that is," Stan said putting air quotes up.

Alec sat up now. "No way! So am I!"

"What?"

"Yeah man, Event Coordinators work in pairs. There's two for every Tier. Wow, we get to work together Stan, how cool is that?"

Stan was grinning now. "Sweet. Although I'm not sure how good I will be, I don't have any younger siblings so don't interact around little kids often."

"I get ya. The closest thing I have is a younger cousin. She's six and she's okay when she wants to be."

"Hey! Shut the hell up you two!" snapped the boy in bed one, David, from across the room.

Stan and Alec smiled as they got back under their covers. Stan couldn't help but feel a little confident for the next coming days. Tomorrow was school which would probably suck, but he'd be sharing assigned job experience with his new roommate Alec Buchanan. He seemed like a pretty cool kid so far so whatever it was the job entailed, he was sure he'd embrace it. It really had been a long and eventful day and Stan finally fell asleep five minutes after he and Alec stopped chatting.

_I was going to include all the events that occur during the first week at Fielding Creek but this chapter was getting too long so I decided to end it here. I hope ya'll can understand the concept and rules of Fielding Creek so far. There is a lot of information to go over but as with any story, I have to establish the basics first. I really hope everyone out there is staying safe and indoors right now and social distancing! I cannot believe there is a pandemic occurring right now. I am trying to remain as hopeful as possible but it is tough. Since the library is closed at the moment I am unable to upload anything from my laptop since I do not have internet at home. So uploads will come out sparsely for a little while, but whenever I have the chance to upload I will. But I am still writing! So please be patient for the time being. And hopefully we can get back to our regular lives soon. Please leave a review, thank-you a ton._

_Stay safe, lots of love: Rose, April 16, 2020_


	3. In Cahoots

**IN CAHOOTS**

_February 6th _

At 7 A.M. that morning several alarms went off in Tier III Boy's House for kids either had their first day of school or a job to get to. Since both Stan and Alec had nearly identical schedules they both went downstairs at the same time for breakfast. There were some basics in the kitchen, breakfast-wise, but Stan already was looking forward to being able to buy his own food. He sat around eating his Frosted Flakes with Alec, both not saying much. Once breakfast was over did the two went to get ready for their day. Thankfully one of the bathrooms was free on their floor so both boys were able to get dressed and brush their teeth without feeling pressed for time. They walked out the door to make the walk to the school. All the while Stan feeling a little odd as he went through these motions.

"You okay man?" Alec asked him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Stan looked behind him.

"You sure the school is walking distance?"

"Yeah, my best friend and I saw it when we walked around town yesterday. It's on Gilbert Street which should be coming up."

Alec turned to him again. "Sure you're okay? Sorry, don't mean to pry. You hardly know me."

Stan was frowning. "It's just weird. Doing these normal things I've been doing the past five years and I finally have the option to do it my way and- I'm still doing it how I was taught. You know?"

Alec grinned, gripping his backpack straps with both hands. "Yeah, I hear ya. Technically we don't even have to go to school. But I'm sure if we don't they'll penalize us for it."

Stan nodded. "Getting up early. Eating breakfast. Brush my teeth. Get my stuff ready. Go to school. Same shit, different location."

Alec chuckled. "Well hopefully today will be okay. School-wise, who knows? But I am curious about our job training after. Maybe after we can do whatever the hell we want."

If Stan was being honest with himself part of the reason why he felt a little weirded out today was the fact that he wasn't going to school with Kyle. They had had the same teachers since preschool but now they had different schedules. Kyle had today off, free to do whatever the hell he wanted. Tomorrow was Stan's day off from school and work but Kyle had both to get to. But they were best friends; they would have no problem finding time to hang out. Plus classes ended at 1:10 P.M. each day so there really was plenty of opportunity to have fun after.

After a fifteen minute walk Stan and Alec made it to a large one-story building with a large sign post in the ground: _Fielding Creek Junior School_. The boys were a little confused by this; what was Junior School? But according to their information packets this was indeed where kids their age were to go for schooling. And so they stepped inside a large open hall where one sign with the words: _Grades preschool-sixth_ pointing to the left and another sign on the right: _Grades seventh & eighth_. They would have to be in the same vicinity of those in Junior High? Stan did not like that one bit. He and Alec went off to find their first class which was Language Arts in room 26. They stepped inside what appeared to be a normal-enough looking classroom with about fifteen desks set up. There was some chit-chat amongst the students that were already there. Stan noticed a few familiar faces, such as Token Black, Bradley Biggle, and Heidi Turner, as well as a few unfamiliar ones. At exactly 7:59 Eric Cartman walked into the classroom.

"Made it with one minute to go, sweet," he smiled, making his way to a desk in the second row.

Stan turned around to see the fat boy. "_You_ have this class today dough boy?"

Cartman rolled his eyes. "Dough boy, really original douche. Yes I have this class, don't sound too surprised."

"But- you hate school. Now that we can make up our own lives why would you still choose to go to school?"

"Pff, it's just for today. See if it's worth my while. After I'm doing whatever the hell I want."

By eight a total of twelve desks were filled, a rather small class size. There was a knock on the door and in stepped their teacher. Stan's eyes widened for a second when she stepped in.

"Hello class, my name is Melony Pritchard. I will be your fourth grade Language Arts teacher," smiled a teenage girl with dark brown hair up in a ponytail. She had on a pretty yellow top and white jeans. She went to write her name on the whiteboard behind her before facing the class, folder in hand. "Now I am sure we would all like to get to know each other but I would like to take roll first. Bradley Biggle?"

"Here," Bradley raised a hand.

"Good. Alec Buchanan?"

"Here," Alec spoke at Stan's right.

Ms. Pritchard went down a few more names before landing on Stan's. "Stanley Marsh?"

"H-here," Stan got out with difficulty. He could feel his stomach bubble in the too-tell way it did when he was nervous. He willed himself to calm the heck down, the last thing he needed was to crush on his teacher!

"Before we begin today, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Melony Pritchard as I stated earlier. You may call me Miss Melony if you'd like since calling me by my last name will only make me feel old," she frowned. "I am fifteen years old and was chosen to teach fourth grade Language Arts at Fielding Creek. I have always loved reading and writing since kindergarten. There is something really gratifying about writing a really good paper or report or reading a good book and explaining said book to others. Now since I am not that much older than you kids here I do not expect you to see me as an adult. However I do still expect you to respect me as I am still in charge. I want everyone in here to have a good time in my classroom. I will try to make things fun since that's the best way to learn, correct?"

There was a murmur of response back.

"If you have any questions for me, you may ask at the end of class, okay? I also want you to feel free to come to me outside classroom hours if you need extra help with an assignment or perhaps just need someone to talk to. Maybe you didn't come to Fielding Creek with any siblings or cousins or friends and are bored during your free time. Don't hesitate to bother me. I will leave you with contact information to reach me. Now then, let me get to know each one of you. I made up a fun worksheet for each of you to fill out." Ms. Melony went about the classroom handing out a sheet to each student as she spoke. "I want to know a few of your favorite things. Hobbies, food, and of course your favorite book! That way I can see each of you as the induvial you are and accommodate my lessons around what you might enjoy."

Stan didn't even look at the paper that the teenager placed on his desk; he just continued to follow her around with his eyes as she went around the room. Finally the eleven other kids around him began to fill out their worksheets but he still was looking ahead at the teacher.

Ms. Melony had just taken her seat behind her desk and was writing something in the attendance folder when she sensed eyes on her. She looked up to see the boy in the red and blue poofball hat looking at her.

"Um, Stanley is it? Have you finished your worksheet yet?"

"Huh? Oh! Um, sorry," Stan fumbled and went down to do so. The round boy with a red jacket pointed and laughed at this.

Melony smiled slightly back at the first boy; another odd thing to get used to. Having nine and ten year-olds crushing on her.

_Meanwhile, back at the Tier III Boy's House…_

Kyle had woken up rather late that morning- after nine. He didn't sleep in too often, even on the weekends. He was too used to getting up around 7:30 for school most days that he only slept in a half hour more on Saturday and Sunday. He took his time getting up before going downstairs for breakfast. He wondered how many other boys his age were off from school or jobs today. He just hoped a certain fat ass was not off at the same time he was. And so with baited breath Kyle stepped into the first kitchen, then the second, and sighed. No sign of Cartman. He saw Butters sitting at a table in the second dining area with a bowl of cereal. Kyle poured himself some Raising Bran and sat down next to him.

"Hey Butters. Off today?"

"Yep. It's pretty weird to have nothin' to do on a Tuesday but I'm liking it so far."

"Yeah. So, what job did they give you?"

"I'm the official Greeter at the Government Building! I get to greet everyone that comes in and point them in the right direction where to go!"

"Oh. I guess that's pretty cool."

"How about you?"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "I'm a receptionist at the Medical Office. I think it's going to be boring. I don't want to sit at a desk all day answering phone calls and checking people in and out. But they aren't going to give the really big jobs to kids our age."

"So what are you going to do on your day off?" Butters asked after drinking the milk leftover from his cereal.

"Not really sure. Maybe see Ike. See if he wants to do something together like go to the park or library. I think I also want to make a stop at the bank, just to get a better idea of how we'll all be getting paid. By then school should be out which means Stan will be out so we'll hang out. You?"

Butters tapped his chin in thought. "Just explore the town. I didn't do too much of that yesterday."

By ten o'clock Kyle was ready for the day. He decided he would make his way to the bank before anything so he could get it out of the way. He took a ride on a shuttle van and was dropped off at the business plaza where the bank was located. The standalone brick building was simply called Fielding Creek Bank. Kyle walked in, curious as to what he would find. The bank in itself looked like a relatively normal bank, sans for the employees there were teenagers.

"May I help you young man?" spoke a voice behind him.

Kyle turned around and noticed a smiling teenage boy standing there. "Um, yeah. I just had a few questions about the bank. How we'll get paid. How much. Things like that."

The teenager nodded. "Fair enough. There have been several kids coming in with those very questions. In fact that is what the majority of those working here are doing today. Answering questions. Well if you want to take a seat in my cubical I can try and answer some of those questions."

Kyle took up a comfortable chair facing this boy. "The first thing I want to know it exactly how we'll be getting paid. Is it in cash? Or are we all going to be given a debit card?"

"Well each of you will have the option of one or the other. Once you get your first check from your job you will have the option of having a card or cash. And if you do choose card you are still able to withdrawal cash if you so wish."

"How much will we get paid?"

The teenager smiled. "That depends on your age and how often you work."

"Damn. So you can't tell me anything?" Kyle frowned.

"I'm sorry, I don't know the particulars of actual pay."

"What if we need to purchase something in the meantime, before we get our first check?"

The teenager frowned, putting his hands together as he leaned in. "Honestly young man"-

"Kyle," Kyle told him.

"Kyle. Honestly everyone should have all they need for the next couple weeks. I suppose if you really do need something in the meantime you can take it up to the Government Building. The ones in charge of the town might have those kinds of answers."

All in all the trip to the bank didn't yield any useful information so Kyle left in a huff. He figured he would go find his brother, see if he wanted to do something with him. Kyle took up a shuttle van to the Tier II Boy's House which wasn't too far away from where the boys of his own age were bunking. As Kyle walked up the pathway to the house he noticed that it was smaller than their Tier III house although when he did step inside he noticed the house looked fairly similar although there were a lot more safety measures and such in the kitchen. When Kyle began looking around for Ike he ran into a boy slightly older than he was.

"Who the hell are you?" the boy asked, arms crossed.

"Kyle. I just wanted to see my brother. He's a part of the Tier II group. Um, who are you?" Kyle raised a brow.

The boy was still giving him a hard look. "I'm Grant. I'm a security officer for this house during the day time."

"Oh?" Kyle smiled in relief, now knowing kids as young as Ike had someone looking after them in a way.

"Yeah man. All houses have them."

"Do they really?"

The boy, Grant, relaxed a little. "Yeah man. Just to make sure nothing gets out-of-hand. We remain safe. For the most part. For the Tier I and II houses there is always going to be someone working security. For kids in Tier III and above there's just a few people to work nightshift."

"Oh, okay then." A thought suddenly entered Kyle's mind. "Speaking of nightshift… what's the policy for night visits? My brother Ike might want me to say goodnight to him some nights. I know curfew is at ten but I was wondering if I could still come by if, I don't know, my brother has a nightmare or something and asks for me."

Grant frowned. "Well technically speaking you shouldn't even be here now. If someone wants to visit they have to get it okayed first. But for night visits? I don't know dude. You'll have to take that up to the night-shift guard. And good luck with that, I heard the person on night-shift for this house is a real bitch."

Kyle looked confused. "Bitch? As in, a girl? Girls are allowed to look after… four-year-old boys?"

Grant paused for a moment to help a boy that had come forward, asking for him to tie his shoes. Grant then got back up. "Yeah man. I guess they wanted a girl working security too, just in case there are some kids that want that added female comfort since they don't have their moms to tuck them into bed each night. Although it wasn't easy to find a chick that was both comforting and tough. So they just settled with some girl named Shelley Marsh."

Kyle felt his stomach sink horribly. "_Shelley_ did you say?"

"Yeah. Know her?"

Kyle sighed. "Damn, my brother and all the kids here are going to be screwed now. Sorry. She's the older sister of my best friend and trust me, she is in fact a bitch." He shook his head before glancing around again. "Well, thanks for letting me know. If that's all, can I go look for my brother, Ike, now?"

Grant nodded and as Kyle went to go up the stairs he called back, "Try not to do anything outrageous then man!"

Kyle waved a hand to acknowledge he had heard and went to go looking for his brother. Kyle looked around the floor where Ike was staying but didn't find him. He finally went out to the back and found him playing with some other boys his age.

"Ike! Hey dude, how are you?"

Ike looked up from the round green ball in his hand. "Hi Kyle," he said before throwing the ball to the other boys standing across from him.

Kyle suddenly felt a little weirded out being the oldest kid amongst his brother and his friends. "Um, I was wondering if you wanted to do something in town. Go to a park or the library or something."

Ike shrugged. "Maybe later. I'm playing now."

Kyle sighed but nodded. "Okay. That's cool. Maybe I'll see you later then…"

Kyle had spent his afternoon at the library. He had grabbed a hotdog for lunch at a nearby stand before waiting around back at the house until Stan showed up. It was currently three o'clock and Kyle was currently downstairs watching TV in the living room when he spotted Stan walking in the door- along with his roommate Alec. The two were laughing about something.

"Stan! Dude! There you are. I thought school ended at like, 1:10."

Stan turned to the boy in the green hat. "Oh, hey dude. Sorry, we just got caught up talking about our jobs and stuff."

Kyle raised a brow. "But your first day of your job isn't until Thursday."

Stan only shrugged back. "Say, Alec and I were thinking about tossing a football around at the park. Wanna come with?"

Kyle gave his friend a hard look before turning back to the TV. "Not really."

At that moment Alec patted Stan's shoulder.

"I'll see you later dude."

"Oh? But we were"-

"Really dude. We can hang later. But if you want I can take up your backpack for you."

Stan smiled and Alec took hold of his backpack and went to the elevator to go to their floor. Stan then turned to face Kyle.

"All right Kyle tell me now what the hell is your problem."

"Problem? What the hell makes you think I have a problem?"

"Because you've been behaving like a butt wipe since yesterday, that's why!"

Kyle suddenly found out he didn't have a comeback for this so once again said nothing.

"Dude, are you jealous of Alec?"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Oh _please_ Stan. I'm not five-years-old anymore."

Stan's eyes went wide. "You are! You're jealous of my roommate!"

"Well he does know we're best friends right? I mean, is he that much of a loser that he has no one else to hang around with?"

"As a matter of fact he does. I forgot his name but it's some kid in dorm D. He also has a twin brother. Ian… no wait, Isaac."

Kyle looked interested now and got to his feet. "Isaac?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"There's a kid named Isaac in my dorm. Hasn't really said much yet. Wow, I didn't know he had a twin."

Stan shrugged. "According to Alec they aren't very close."

Kyle couldn't help but smirk now. "Wow, imagine having a twin and not being close to them."

Stan smiled back now. "That would kind of blow. I thought twins were supposed to have a relationship unique to anything else out there."

Kyle playfully socked Stan's shoulder. "Naw dude, that's SBF's."

Stan pushed him back. "So _so_ gay dude."

With that the two boys took up a football from a bin in the backyard and went to one of the parks in town to toss it around. There Kyle began asking Stan how school went.

"Kind of different. We have different teachers for each subject, like in Jr. High or High School. Um, FYI, don't ask the math teacher, Roger Clemits, if his dad is former Yankees baseball pitcher Roger Clemens. Um, he's not," Stan clarified, rubbing his neck.

Kyle laughed. He and Stan had a great evening hanging around like they usually did. All thoughts of jealousy long gone and when the two bade each other goodnight at 9:30, Kyle was in good spirits again. Tomorrow was sure to be an exciting day for he had school in the morning and at three, was to report to the Medical Office for his first day on the job. Time to show off just what kind of person he was and prove himself to everyone. Including himself.

_February 8__th_

Today was Kyle's first day of school as well as his first day of his job. School itself was overall good although it was a little odd to have a bunch of teenagers teaching him. But so far the homework seemed easy, especially for Language Arts. His teacher, Miss Pritchard, wanted everyone to write a detailed paper about themselves so she could both learn a little more about each kid and to also test where they were skills-wise in writing. Kyle hung around the playground at school once classes were over before he decided to walk to Medical Offices of Fielding Creek, where his job was located. Thankfully it wasn't too far away from where the school was and he made it fifteen minutes before three, when he was scheduled to arrive. The Medical Office building was large, three stories, with many windows. When Kyle stepped inside he found himself in a normal-enough looking doctor's office with a reception area, several chairs set about, and a large sign on the left reading: Emergency Illness & Injury and Healer Offices, and on the right: Minor Illness & Injury and Dental Level 2 and next to this sign: Recovery Rooms Level 3.

Kyle walked over to the reception area where a girl a year or two older than him was shuffling through some papers. He cleared his throat.

"Oh! Hi! Welcome to the Medical Offices of Fielding Creek!" the girl greeted. "My name is Viv, how may I help you today?"

"Yeah um, I have a job here that starts at three."

The girl put her hand to her chest in relief. "Oh thank god. That means I can get off now."

Kyle frowned. "Really? Was it that bad?"

The girl didn't answer, just made a motion with her hand to follow her. She led him down a hall on the first floor and knocked on a door.

"Healer Tessa? Night-shift is here."

A few seconds later the door opened and a girl, probably eighteen, stepped out. She had blond hair to her shoulders and was pretty tall. She also wore a sky blue coat with her name on it.

"Thank-you Viv. I promise you can get off soon. Let me just show him around real quick, okay?"

The girl sighed but nodded and walked off.

Healer Tessa beckoned Kyle into her office and asked him for his file so she could see proof that he was scheduled to be here. She nodded and began rummaging in a bin as she spoke. "Well welcome to your first day on the job Kyle. I'll try to cover the basics right now but I am due to get off within the next hour. The Head Healer for the next shift, Healer Dean, will be here if you have any questions. First off let me get you your official shirt and badge." She handed over a green t-shirt with M.O.F.C. stamped on the front with the town symbol, a sun rising over a creek, on the back, as well as a nametag with his name on it. She then had him follow her back to the front reception area.

"I do have one question already," Kyle spoke up. "Why are you all called 'Healers'?"

Healer Tessa smiled. "Well we can't legally call ourselves doctors or nurses since we haven't actually gone to medical school although those that do work here have gotten a lot of training in specific fields so we are as prepared as can be for whatever might happen in town. We will try to 'heal' any child that does come in best we can. If it is something out of our realm, they'll be sent to The Center where actual doctors are standing by. In fact we are keeping in close contact with said doctors and dentists to help treat any child here. We won't do something unless we feel we are able to perform said treatment. Understand so far?"

Kyle nodded. "Sure. So can you like, give someone actual medicine? Or stitches? Or plaster a broken leg or something? Perform x-rays?"

Healer Tessa smiled as she stopped at the front desk now. "Yes. Within reason. I take it you have a pretty strong stomach?" she the shifted gears.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I do."

"Great. You will of course need one to work here. You never know what might come in. While we don't expect to see anyone come in with a finger dangling by just the skin from their hand we have to be prepared."

Kyle nodded. Honestly blood and coughing people didn't bother him. The thing that still did however was pee but what were the odds he would encounter pee during his time working here? Even if some kid came in and barfed all over him he'd be fine with it. He had a little brother and a best friend and both came with vomit, for separate reasons, so he felt he had seen a lot already. Healer Tessa asked him a couple questions as to why he felt he was chosen for this job. He honestly said that he liked helping others and he felt he would probably be some sort of doctor or scientist when he was older anyway. Healer Tessa gave him a quick tour of the entire building, pointing out the more important aspects of it before going back down and explaining what his job would intel. It was pretty much what Kyle expected; he was to point out where each kid that came in should go when they came in. He was also to answer phone calls and page Healers of incoming 'patients'. While it all sounded fine it would be a lot of work to unload on one nine-year-old. Thankfully Kyle would have a partner helping him out. In fact said other boy arrived just as he was done with his tour of the offices.

"I think that's it," Healer Tessa spoke. "Do you have any other questions before I give Johnny here the tour?"

"Yes, I wanted to know a little more about pay," Kyle said honestly.

Healer Tessa sighed. "You can ask Healer Dean that later. I'm already running behind. Well then, good luck Kyle!"

With that Kyle was left to take up the spot where the first girl, Viv, was sitting in when he first arrived. His partner, Johnny, came back ten minutes later. He told Kyle that he was eleven but neither really said much after that. The waiting room was empty for a good half hour before two kids finally came in- an older boy and a young girl.

"Hello, welcome to the Medical Offices of Fielding Creek, my name is Kyle. How can I help you?" Kyle recited.

"Hey, I was at the park with my little sister and she fell. She scraped her knee. I don't think it's anything too serious but can we have someone clean it up or something?" the boy said.

Kyle nodded. "Second floor. Minor injuries." He then flipped a switch nearby which alerted those that were on the second floor that someone was coming by. And on and on the time went. The majority of people that stepped in were little kids that wanted extra comfort for their very minor bumps and bruises. An eight-year-old girl came by with her two-year-old brother asking if they could have some Band-Aids to 'play doctor' with. A Healer came out and supplied them with a box before reminding them that there should be a stash of Band-Aids at their respected homes. Finally at seven Kyle's shift ended. As soon as he clocked out he immediately went over to where Healer Dean was, typing away at a computer in a small office. Kyle knocked on the door before he was welcomed in.

"Oh, hello Kyle. You've clocked out, correct?"

"Yeah. My replacement just arrived. Um, I just wanted to ask you a couple questions about, well, pay…"

Healer Dean, a seventeen-year-old black boy, smiled. "Sure. What would you like to know?"

"How much am I earning? What will my paychecks look like?"

Dean rubbed his chin. "You're in Tier III correct? That means you will be earning six dollars for every hour you work. That's the same for any child in your age range, it doesn't matter the job. You are also not allowed to work more than four hours for any shift. And, well, you do the math. How often are you scheduled per week?"

Kyle quickly thought back to his work schedule. "Four days… which means I'll get a maximum of sixteen hours… I'll get $96 each week." He smiled at this. "Wow, that's actually pretty sweet."

Dean nodded. "You seem like a pretty hard worker based off how you did today. I'm sure if it were allowed we could give you extra work hours but putting children of your age to work for more than four hours would really be pushing it. But you did a good job, you were really good with the little kids that kept coming in today."

"I have a little brother, I'm used to it," Kyle smiled.

"If that's all you're free to go. Get some dinner, do some homework. Have a good night."

"Thanks dude. Same to you."

_Meanwhile in South Park_

_February 9__th_

Sharon awoke to her alarm going off at nine P.M. It was Friday and she was usually off Fridays so she tried to stay in late if she could. Although those moments hardly happened since she still had two kids to move along that morning before school. This was the first Friday in a very long time in which she could sleep in. Randy was usually up and out the door to work on Fridays but he had taken the day off. He didn't want to miss a single moment of today for something big was to begin in town. Sharon got up, wrapped her robe over herself, paused for a second by Shelley's and Stan's bedroom doors, and walked downstairs. Randy was already sitting at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee and frozen waffles.

"What are you doing up so early?" Sharon asked as she went to fix herself some coffee too.

"You know why Sharon. Big day. Want to be good and ready. See if anything is written down in the paper," Randy held up the daily newspaper.

Sharon raised a brow. "We haven't gotten the newspaper in two years Randy."

Randy shrugged. "I have my reasons Sharon."

She rolled her eyes but sat down five minutes later with some toast. Neither she nor Randy spoke for the entirety of breakfast. Sharon began to wash her and Randy's dishes after. Randy then went over and pecked his wife's cheek.

"Gotta get ready for the day. I'm meeting up with the guys soon, just to get their take on everything. But at 5 P.M.- bam! Betting begins!"

Sharon gave him a hard look. "The house is strangely quiet. Our children won't be home for three months and that's all you care about?"

Randy looked a little confused. "Hey, you knew what was up way back in December Sharon. And you knew betting would be something I would partake in."

"I know but we're supposed to finally hear from the kids today. I don't want you to miss their phone calls."

Randy was already by the kitchen entrance, about to go back upstairs to change. "Huh? Oh, um, yeah. Well if they call text me or something." With that he went back up.

At 5 P.M. a long line had formed in front of the Booking Room in town. There were two men standing outside in blue coats with megaphones in hand.

"Attention! Attention now everyone!" spoke the first man. ""As I'm sure everyone here knows, the first day of the Fielding Creek Bets begins today and I am sure you are all excited. But before we begin anything there are a few things we want to go over."

"Gahhh," Randy rolled his eyes.

"The first thing we must advise you is that no you cannot bet on your own child."

"Damnit," Randy, along with many other adults, cursed

"Second, two adults are not allowed to bet on the same child at any given time. Thirdly, we must prohibit any adult in here that does not have a child currently staying at Fielding Creek to place bets." More complaints accompanied this. "I'm sorry but it is not fair to those parents that do have children enrolled to not have a child to place bets on if they are all taken up by people without any kids to begin with. But you are more than willing to help out your friends to make a decision if you wish."

The second man in the front spoke now. "There will be a variety of different bets you can place. You can change your bet each week if you would like but you are only limited to two bets per week. When you get into the booking room you will have access to the information to all 834 children at Fielding Creek. However the actual child's identity will not be listed. No names or photos or anything. You will go by the results of the child's health checks and personality interviews conducted months ago to get your information."

The first man was smiling now. "Remember parents: this may be fun but at the same time you all know what is at stake. That grand reward for the one child that makes it out on top! So be smart and safe, and have fun!"

The two men stepped aside and all the people in line hurried inside the rather small building. Jimbo was there with Randy to help him out with choosing. Several ipads were set up in the room for quick access on the children as well as binders with the children's information as well.

"Know what kind of kid you're looking for?" Jimbo asked as Randy snatched up a binder.

"I don't know yet. I want to get a good feel for this whole thing first," Randy spoke as he thumbed through the laminated information sheets.

"Well it has to be a teenager," Stephen Stotch spoke, coming up to Randy's left.

"It would be a nice surprise if a younger child wins it. There could be a really headstrong five-year-old in there," spoke Mrs. Black.

Randy was frowning as he looked closer to what was written on some of the information sheets. "We have to be careful with who we choose. Look at this: file 20402. Eighteen-year-old male. Is apparently in perfect health which is a strong point but scored very low in his interview area. Says he's independent but might have underlining psychosis that could present itself. And file 14288: twelve-year-old girl is very smart but has sight impairment. What if things get a bit hairy towards the end and the other kids steal her glasses and pawn them or some shit?"

Randy ended up staying at the Booking Room for a good two hours, trying to figure out which kid was worth putting money on. He finally settled on two tame bets to dip his toes in that first week: $20 double or nothing on a six-year-old girl and a fourteen-year-old boy. Both kids were described as friendly and smart kids. Surely they would last until the following week.

_Meanwhile during this time…_

Sharon was busying herself by washing the windows that evening when she heard her cell phone ring. Smiling, she went to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom," Stan spoke.

Sharon smiled. "Hi sweetie. How are you? Oh it feels so good to hear your voice again."

"I'm good. I finally have some time off from stuff so thought I should call."

"Well I'm glad at least one of my kids wants to talk to me. I have yet to hear from your sister," Sharon frowned as she began walking around the living room.

Stan made an annoyed sound on the other end.

"Don't tell me she's already being difficult…"

Stan sighed. "Well let's just say I haven't seen her much since we got here. And today is supposed to be a special day for siblings to 'hang out'. Not like I'd want to do that with her anyway. Get this! Yesterday she was caught up past curfew and since older siblings are supposed to set a good example for their younger ones and be responsible, I get punished too! So I was banned from watching TV this weekend."

"Oh no, I'm sorry sweetie."

"Is Dad around?"

Sharon's thoughts went to where she knew her husband was at that very moment. She looked very displeased now. "No he's not."

"Why?"

Sharon sighed. "Let's just say he and his buddies had others matters to take care of right now."

Stan made a sound on the other line and Sharon was sure he was rolling his eyes now. "Figures. Well when he does comes home tell him I'd like to hear from him too. I miss him too."

Sharon was smiling again and her heart warmed. "Ohh you miss us already Stan?"

The same scoff sound. "C'mon Mom…"

Sharon sat back down on the couch. "So tell me how your week has been. School, work, everything…"

The two ended up talking for fifteen more minutes before Stan had to go, another kid was waiting to use the phone to call his parents. He promised his mother he'd call again soon before hanging up. and Sharon was back to feeling lonely and bored in the house again.

_February 17__th_

Around noon that day Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny were sitting around a big tree at one of the local parks, enjoying lunch before all four of them had to disperse to their assigned jobs that day.

"So I told that bitch to shut the fuck up and go back to fourth grade herself," Cartman was raging.

Stan and Kyle rolled their eyes as Kenny laughed.

"C'mon dude, that's uncalled for," Stan spoke.

"You're only saying that because you have a crush on her dipwad," Cartman pointed out.

Stan's face turned pink for a second as Kyle and Kenny both laughed now.

"Is that true dude? You really have a crush on our Language Arts teacher?" Kyle smiled.

"I do not, how stupid are you?"

"You ogle at her any chance you get. Don't know why, bitch is as flat as ten-year-old anyway," Cartman pointed out.

"Yeah, she's nothing to look at really. Now the eight-graders on the other side of the school? Oohhh-weee! Give me some of that hot action," Kenny spoke.

"But really dude, you really have a crush on Miss Pritchard?" Kyle asked again.

"No I don't! Just shut-up, Cartman is saying stupid shit again as usual," Stan grumbled as he ate his chicken nuggets.

Kyle took a drink of the Diet Coke in his hand and turned to Stan. "So, what are your plans for today?"

"You mean for work? Well Alec and I have decided to continue with our flag football idea from last week," Stan explained. "Today we'll be having the six and seven-year-olds again and they are a little easier to motivate and follow directions than the four and five-year-olds were. We all had fun last weekend so hopefully we do today."

"So Cartman, looking forward to cleaning up after some teenagers today?" Kyle was beaming now.

It was Stan's turn to laugh now.

"Shut the hell up you filthy fucking Jew!" Cartman pointed a round finger his way.

"I heard they're even messier than us," Kyle continued.

"He probably can't keep up with the workload anyway. First off: it's work. Standing on his feet for more than ten minutes will give him a stroke," Stan joked as Kyle and Kenny joined in laughter.

"Shut the fuck up! All three of you!"

Cartman's assigned job ended up being a dishwasher at school. After his assessment and interview that appeared to be the only job he was 'capable of doing'. He was to clean up any dishes Junior School, and on Saturday was to do the same at the High School since many of the teenagers had weekend classes. He of course found issue in his job, stating it was meaningless work reserved only for poor people but since like every other kid at Fielding Creek, had to take the job if he wanted money. He had already slacked off from the job twice but had yet to be fired. Apparently not too many kids were up to a job such as washing dishes so he continued to stay behind regular school time to show up to his job which began not long after school was out. He badly wanted to find a way out, a way to get a new job if possible. One that paid more too. He only made $96 a week if he was lucky and that was clearly not enough. Cartman knew older kids were paid more and got more hours. He had to find a way around the rule of Tier III kids only being allowed to work X amount of hours each week. He'd find a way. He always found a way…

And so after lunch was eaten, Cartman regretfully caught the bus to ride to the High School. When he arrived in the back of the cafeteria where the dishwashing station was he was met up with his 'boss', some prick of a seventeen-year-old.

"You're late Eric!" the youth snapped at him.

"I don't give a fuck. This job is for fucking poor people," Cartman spat.

"You better hurry up and help out Thomas with the dishes. There was a big breakfast event that took place this morning so there's a lot to clean up. Now get to it!"

Cartman grumbled as he made his way to the huge sink where his twelve-year-old partner was.

"Hey dude," Thomas spoke.

"Don't fucking talk to me asshole," Cartman glared as he angrily took hold of a stack of plates and threw them into the sink.

Thomas shrugged. "I know you hate this job dude but it's not so bad. My dad actually washed dishes for five years before they promoted him. Now he's the assistant manager at Burger King!"

Cartman shot him a seething look. "You just proved my point dickface. This job is for poor people such as _you_, you worthless black fuckhead."

Thomas glared at the fat boy now. "That was uncalled for. In case you haven't noticed I'm not black. I'm Filipino."

"Same goddamn thing!"

Cartman finished up ten minutes past the end of his shift. Again, if kids in his age group were given extra time at their job it was frowned upon, it meant that they would have to be paid more. So even if there were still a few pots to wash he had to leave. It was now close to 4:30. He could easily catch the bus to the medical building thing and annoy the Jew who was now at work until seven. Or he could go over to the Morris Hills Park where Stan currently was and point and laugh as he and that Alec kid tried stimulating some six and seven-year-olds for a few hours. But he had done both and was already bored with that so decided to head back to the Tier III House and relax in the movie room. When he did arrive home he found fellow roommate Javier about to put something into the DVD player.

"Ay! Who said you have access in herah?" Cartman demanded.

Javier raised a brow as he turned around. "I did. I do live here in case you haven't noticed."

"Trying to use your mind games again are you?"

"Mind games?"

"How can I _not_ notice your sneaking Mexican self across from my bed each night? Watching me like some kind of pedo? Huh?" Cartman spat.

Javier rolled his eyes. "Not this again dude…"

"No! You tell me what you've been doing at my bedside each night! I see you, writing in your journal. Probably planning on carving me open in the middle of the night and sell my organs on the black market, aren't you? It's bad enough you filthy brown hands snatch the jobs us hard-working Americans strive for. But you also:"-

"For the last time Eric, I am not going to sell your fat ass on the black market just because I'm Mexican!"

"Ha! So you admit it! You admit you're a Mexican!" Cartman almost looked gleeful now.

Javier was glaring now. "I never denied it. But I was born here idiot. My parents met here when they left Mexico years ago. They're U.S. citizens!"

"I don't care what you are! I am sick and tired of seeing you awake every damn night. Waiting, plotting…something."

Javier finally rolled his eyes. "Fine, if you want to use the movie screen go ahead. I don't care anymore." With that, the boy left.

Smiling Cartman searched through the large collection of movies before putting on a favorite: Star Wars- The Empire Strikes Back. Not much happened the rest of the night. Since there wasn't much in his bank account yet Cartman couldn't afford anything too extravagant when it came to food. He often had to result on the cheap communal food in the kitchens of the house, although he had purchased some fixings to make some chili cheese dogs, something he was craving. Now it was close to ten o'clock and that meant it was time for the majority of the residents in the house to get ready for bed. Stan had already gone upstairs at nine, as did Butters. Then again they were usually the ones in the core group to get tired and go to bed first anyway. Cartman however took up the opportunity to indeed do whatever the hell he wanted. Some nights he would sneak off downstairs to watch TV and eat ice cream. It really was the upmost excitement so far: doing whatever he wanted. To an extent. But there was still the one sticky problem: the guards.

Each House had two guards on duty every night that spent their time in a locked away room in the basement area, looking over the cameras and such to make sure no one broke any rules during those twilight hours. Cartman hated the idea that he was being watched, even if technically he hadn't gotten into trouble yet. He was still in the House during his late-night TV watching so the guards couldn't punish him for it. He was doing whatever he wanted and it wasn't affecting anyone but himself. Of course by this point Cartman wanted more, get away from his roommates. Especially the suspicious Mexican kid Javier. The chance to wander about town after hours seemed pretty sweet. And if he was caught he knew the perfect excuse to give.

And so a little after ten that night he slipped out the front door without a problem and began to walk down the path that led to a corner store. It closed at eleven, if he hurried perhaps he could grab himself something tasty like a Freezee and some chips. Smiling now, he quickened his pace, which he only did if food was involved. Suddenly he heard a cough behind him. He looked over to see a teenager boy standing behind him, arms crossed.

"Excuse me kid, but curfew for those twelve and under is at nine. What are you doing out?"

Cartman frowned and had a hand over his stomach. "Sorry, it's just that I have a big tummy-ache. I was hoping to get something for it real quick at the corner store."

The teenager rubbed his chin but finally nodded. "Fine, go on ahead then. But I expect you to go to your House right after!"

"Of course. Thank-you," Cartman nodded politely before continuing on to his journey. Thankfully the person working there didn't blink twice that someone underage was out and about at this hour and Cartman walked out five minutes later, a lemon-lime Freezee and bag of Funyuns in hand. He stepped out the corner store to take a sip of his drink when he heard a sound, giggling, near the store. Raising a brow, he had to see who or what it was. He carefully turned the corner to the back of the store where a low light was hanging over a dumpster and what appeared to be two people making out. Smiling now, knowing that something like this wasn't allowed, Cartman stood by and watched for the next thirty seconds, slurping his drink all the while.

"Anthony… stop…" giggled the female.

"Sorry babe. I can't help it. You're irresistible to me…"

"Still… someone could hear us…in fact, I thought I heard- what the fuck are _you_ doing here?" the female screamed back suddenly at Cartman's direction.

Cartman's eyes went wide as the person came into view. "Sh-Shelley?"

Shelley had her arms wrapped around a teenage boy that was no doubt older than her by a few years.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Cartman had to ask in return.

"None of your damn business you whale of a turd."

Cartman's eyes were fixated on the scene now. "Don't you have a guarding job you have to get to bitch?"

Shelley was giving him an ever darker look. "My shift ends in fifteen minutes. I don't need to be looking after some snotty-nose turds. And don't you have some useless dishwashing job to get to?"

Neither of them said anything for the next full minute, both glaring daggers.

"Shelley, let's blow this joint and leave the fat dork alone to get caught by security," the teenage boy spoke dully.

"Just- just a minute Anthony…" Shelley moved away from him and roughly pulled Cartman out of earshot. "Really turd, what the fuck do you think you're doing out at this time? You're going to be caught and have something revoked."

"Pff, I'm not afraid of that stupid rule. If anything _you_ will be caught and will be punished. You're supposed to be looking out for kids younger than me and yet you're throat-deep in some asshole's mouth. Someone who no doubt is older than you," Cartman accusingly.

Shelley glanced behind her before turning back to the fat boy. "I won't say anything if you don't. Turd."

Cartman was still glaring. "What's in it for me bitch?"

"I just told you fucking deaf turd."

Cartman looked over to the teenager, Anthony. "And _him_? I can go up and rat his ass out now too, making out with a thirteen-year-old. I'm pretty sure _that's_ forbidden."

Anthony suddenly came forward. "Look kid, I'll make it worth your while if you scram."

Cartman rubbed his chin. "I'm listening…"

Anthony sighed. "Look, I work in the government building. I can get you what you want or need. Both of you."

Cartman wasted no time. "I want a better-paying job. I refuse to wash fucking dishes at the _skeewl_ another fucking day."

Anthony turned to Shelley. "Shelley babe?"

Shelley curled her hands into fists. "I want the same thing. I'm done being a baby-sitter to some little turd monsters."

Anthony gave a slight nod. "Right. No one will know of what transpired here if we agree not to say a word."

"Wait! How do I know you won't say something about me being out past curfew?!" Cartman pointed a fat finger at the teenager.

Anthony and Shelley shared a look.

"Because it will be my own job on the line dumbass," he said flatly.

"Oh, right."

Anthony had an arm around Shelley now. "I'll make it up to you kid. You have my word. Remember: nothing happened here. With any of us."

Not wanting to trust this youth but still very curious, Cartman finally relented, walking carefully back to the Tier III Boys House, making sure to eat up his chips and finish his Freezee before he walked in.

_Finally this is done! I had writer's block in a few areas so wasn't able to complete this as quickly as I wanted. I wanted this to be in Kyle's POV but the scene at the end of the chapter with Cartman had to happen and well, it wouldn't make sense if this was in Kyle's POV. But I promise it will be for the next chapter. Cool news too- I have a new chapter up on Welcome to the Marsh House so check that out too when you can. As always, I hope everyone is staying safe out there and making smart choices. Please do leave a review and hopefully I can update sooner than I have been. Thanks a lot._

_Lots of love: Rose, July 3__rd__, 2020_


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